Against All Odds
by A-poor-mad-girl-back-home
Summary: The 70th Annual Hunger Games are a few months away. Finnick, who had decided not to attach himself to anyone after he saw what the Capitol was capable of, ended up bending his rule when he met Annie Cresta. But the odds didn't seem to be in his favor...
1. Chapter 1

Hey!

This is my first (and maybe only?) Hunger Games fic, so I hope you guys will enjoy it :)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. The characters and world is the intellectual property of Suzanne Collins

PS: Reviews would be appreciated :)

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><p>One thing Finnick will never forget was the day he first noticed Annie Cresta.<p>

Oh, he had "noticed" her before. Quickly seen her as he passed by the Careers training. Seen her carrying into town a net full of fish the day her father was sick. Noticed the bright green bow that decorated the top of her head, holding her hair out of her face when she passed by him in town. These little details that you notice as easily as you forget them, and that you can see in every other person you bump into in the street.

No, the first time he really noticed her was about two months before the reaping for the 70th annual Hunger Games.

Being a Victor, he could do pretty much anything he wanted. He had food and money for the rest of his life. So, instead of training the Careers as he was so often requested, he spent a lot of time swimming. He couldn't bring himself to train the Careers. Mentoring them was had enough. They never came out of there alive, not while he'd been mentor anyways. He couldn't look into a child's eye and raise him for slaughter, and actually try and make him believe that what he was doing was honorable..

So that afternoon he was out for a swim again. He'd strip completely and swim far out, past the waves and the fishing boats, and when the water was still enough, he'd let himself float on his back, eyes closed and hearing distorted by the water around him. It was the only moment he'd feel free. Out in the ocean, completely naked, with no one but himself. Where he didn't have to mentor poor children to face the most traumatizing experience in their lives, where he didn't have to pretend to be seductive to all these Capitol freaks. Where he wasn't a slave, a property of the Capitol, who could do whatever it pleased him.

After a long moment, Finnick returned to reality and swam back to shore. He was putting his pants back on when he realized her shirt was missing. And that's when he saw her.

She was sitting at edge of the docks, mending fishing net, with the tip of her toes brushing the water as she gently waved her long thin legs. She was not wearing her training clothes, but a simple beige dress that made Finnick see her not like a trained soldier, but for what she actually was: a girl. He'd give her fifteen years, give or take a year. He only recognized her by that green ribbon sitting on the side of her head. But what really drew his attention, was that it was clearly his shirt that was lying on her lap.

It wasn't the fact that he was standing there shirtless that annoyed him; Finnick wasn't at all shy or modest about his body. What bothered him was that she'd taken his shirt like one of his fans in the Capitol would, as if he was some sex icon or something. Though girls did beat their eyelashes at him and giggle as he passed them, he expected them to be a bit less shallow in his district.

The Victor went over, still dripping wet from the sea, stopping right next to her. Feeling his presence, the girl looked up, meeting his sea green eyes with hers of the same color.

"I believe that's my shirt" he told her, not trying to sound too rude, but making no effort to sound friendly either.

"It is" she said simply, holding it up for him. "It had a hole under the armpit. I fixed it for you."

For the first time in a while, Finnick was taken aback. He knew it had a hole; he'd seen it earlier in the morning but had ignored it. She had fixed it properly. Plus, he was expecting a silly girl who'd hyperventilate or faint because he was talking to her, not someone who would talk to him so calmly, and then turn back to her net as if nothing had happened. Only then he noticed the basket by her side, with some clothes in it, as well as needles and thread.

"So that's what you do?" he asked. "Steal people's stuff and fix them?"

The girl didn't look up, but he saw a small smile appear across her face. "I didn't steal it. I have some stuff to sew for my family, and it was lying there and I thought I'd do its owner a favor. As a Victor, I'd expect you to have better clothes"

"Yeah, well, what for? I don't wear them much anyway" Finnick smiled and sat by her side. "What's your name?"

"Annie" she told him, looking at him again. "Annie Cresta"

Annie Cresta. Little did he know that with time, that name would start crossing his mind more and more until it became his sole purpose of living.

"You're one of the Careers, aren't you?" he asked her, even if he knew the answer. She simply nodded, so he went on: "What do you fight with?"

"Ropes" she told him, putting the net aside and starting to sew a dress.

"Ropes?" he asked, actually curious. "How do you fight with ropes?"

"You don't actually _fight_ with them… you mostly do traps" Annie explained. "Though if you're quick enough, you can strangle your opponent with them"

"Not really the easiest way to kill though, is it?" Finnick pointed out, picking up her net to check the quality of her work – which he had to admit was quite impressive.

"No" the girl agreed. "But I don't want to do much killing"

The boy put the net down, finally looking properly at that girl by his side. Her green eyes were still fixed on the dress she was mending, her full lips pressed in a pout of concentration. She had an oval face, and quite pale skin compared to the other people from district four. Her hair was long, full and dark, falling gracefully around her. She was average size and quite thin… and she was just a girl. Finnick really hoped her name wasn't pulled out during the reaping, because there was no way this girl would make it out of there alive. She was no killer; even if she hadn't given him that answer, he could see it in her eyes.

There are two types of Careers that were chosen at the age of ten to start their training. There were the brutal, vicious ones. The ones that had been successfully brainwashed, and that actually wanted to go in the arena, the ones whose goal was to become a Victor. Those who could kill without blinking to survive. How probably took pleasure from it. And then there were the smart ones; the ones who'd be of great help to their district partner in the beginning, who usually were the ones that found the water and food sources, the shelters, the others tributes… but who would never survive the brutality of the final battles. Maybe they could physically, but they weren't really killers. Sometimes, you'd have a Career that was a bit of both – Finnick was one of those – but they were rare. Annie definitely wasn't.

"Nervous for the reaping?" he asked, suddenly seeing himself in her, a little kid trained to kill against his will.

"Well… a bit" she admitted, tossing the dress back in the basket and looking at him. "But I mean, there are a lot of us. And I think there are some girls, who actually wanna go, so…"

This is why Finnick hated the idea training Careers. Because eventually they'd open up to him. He'd easily sympathize. His first instinct was to end the conversation and leave, pretend he never talked to this girl, who'd probably not even get picked anyway. But instead, he took her thin hand, squeezing it gently.

"It'll be alright." The words escaped his lips before he could consider them. After all, who was he to state such a thing? How could he know?

"No, it _might_ be alright" she corrected him with a sad smile.

"No, it will be" he insisted. "Even if your name is pulled out at the reaping, I'm make sure you get out of there alive"

"You probably forgot my name already" she replied with a laugh.

"You'd think that" Finnick said, getting up and putting his shirt on. He looked a while at the sun that was slowly setting in the horizon. "I better get going. You should go home too, it's getting quite chilly."

"Yeah, you're right" the girl agreed, putting her sewing material back in the basket.

"I guess I'll see you around then… Annie Cresta" he winked at her before walking away. He never turned back, and because of that he missed the smile that had appeared on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

The reaping was one month away and Finnick had started taking his work-out more seriously. He had to be in perfect shape to go to the Capitol; he had to remain desirable. Not that he'd be any less attractive with less muscles, but better safe than sorry. The Victor knew what the Capitol was capable of – when he'd first refused to let them sell him out to rich, needy women, a "fishing accident" had killed his father and sister. Well, he didn't have anyone else to lose, but the Capitol was resourceful. Maybe they'd do something to Mags, or to the whole district; there were a million options, because when it came to cruelty, the Capitol's imagination had no limits. He knew he'd better not risk it.

So after some pushups and weight-lifting, Finnick went for a long jog, his final destination being the sea. When he finally reached the shore, tired and sweaty, he kicked off his shoes and started to undress, desperate for a swim in the cool sea water. But when he'd just pulled his shirt over his head, he stopped, having that odd sensation of being watched.

He looked around, and was both relieved and surprised to see it was only her. Annie Cresta. She was sitting on a rock, still wearing her training clothes, but with that green ribbon on her hair.

"Came to steal my clothes again?" Finnick asked with a teasing smile.

"I wouldn't dare touch your clothes today" she replied with a disgusted twist of her nose, when he tossed the sweaty shirt on the rock next to her to keep it off the sand.

"Then why are you here?" he inquired "Just to admire the view?"

"You think too much of yourself" she replied, standing up. "I came for a swim. I bet I'm faster than you"

Finnick looked at her amused. She had this playful, cocky expression on her face that did nothing but charm him.

"There's only one way to find out" he answered, taking of the rest of his clothes.

Annie put one hand over her eyes, turning her head and blushing slightly. "There's no need to undress completely!"

"I'm more comfortable this way. What, this disturbs you, girlie?"

"I have no interest in seing you naked" she mumbled, turning her back to him and taking her shoes off, undoing her ribbon and finally starting to pull of her training clothes. "Don't look!"

"Well aren't you prudish…" he mocked, disregarding her order.

She rushed into the sea as soon as she was in her undergarments, and waited for Finnick, her back turned, clearly refusing to see him naked. She had swum quite far out, past the waves, and moved her feet slowly under her to keep her head out of the water. He laughed to himself and followed her, coming silently behind her.

"Ready, girlie?" he whispered in her ear, making her turn quickly in surprised.

She splashed water in his face, half-annoyed half-amused. "Stop calling me that."

"When you stop being so childish" he retorted.

Annie raised her eyebrows. "Oh, of course, because you're sooo old and mature"

"As a matter of fact I am! And you should show me some respect, I'm your elder"

"You're three years older than me!" she protested, not knowing if she should be amused or annoyed with him.

He looked at her, slightly taken aback. "What, you're sixteen?"

"Yes. Why is it so surprising?" the girl asked, rather offended.

"I'd have given you fourteen" he told her, the corner of his mouth twitching in a teasing smile.

She rolled her eyes, deciding to not answer. "Whatever. The first one to get to the docks wins."

"What's the price?"

Annie smiled her cocky smile. "If I win, you stop treating me like a little child"

"In that case, if I win, you give me a kiss" Finnick told her with a teasing wink.

The girl snorted. "Since you're definitely not winning, I'll just say yes so we can start"

Finnick had to admit, he was highly amused by her cheek. Out here on the see, with her hair wet and sticking to her neck, without that cute and incredibly childish ribbon, she did look more womanly. She was beautiful, and cocky, and yet kind, and the Victor didn't ask that kiss just to tease her. He wouldn't mind a quick taste of those full lips of hers.

At the count of three, they both started swimming towards the dock. Annie's motivation to win fueled Finnick up even more. Who wouldn't want a kiss from him? He gave it all he got, not only for the kiss but also for his ego, but when he touched the dock and looked up, Annie was already holding onto the wooden pole that suspended it.

"I won" she pointed out, not managing to contain her smile.

"I let you win" the boy mumbled, not really pleased by having being beaten by a girl.

"Hey, don't take it personally" she teased. "After all I train four hours every day, and all week-end long. I'm bound to have more stamina than someone who spends most of his time in his dream house"

"Are you done mocking me?" Finnick asked, trying to sound pissed but unable to be mad at that girl.

"Sorry" she let go of the pole and started drifting towards shore. "I have to be home before sundown"

She made it calmly to shore, not having much energy left after that mad race with Finnick, and pulled her clothes on quickly. The Victor was still only in boxers when she turned around.

"I think I'll come out here more often. I do like swimming" she told him, twisting the water out of her hair.

"You are a pretty good swimmer" he admitted, smiling at her indirect invitation. "I'm here nearly every day. Around three"

"Nice to know" Annie smiled; tying her wet her with the ribbon again. "And don't forget our agreement. No more "girlie". Though you probably forgot my name and was using that as a substitute"

He smiled as she started to leave. "I won't forget our agreement, _Annie_"


	3. Chapter 3

From that day on, Finnick and Annie met on a regular basis. The victor would go for a swim every day, hoping to see girl with the ribbon, and she'd show up more often than not. They didn't race every time; they enjoyed swimming slowly, or floating out in the open sea. When the tides were too strong, or the water too cold, they'd lay on the sand and talk. For Finnick, who had kept himself away from other people since his family's death, this was a big change. He'd only really talk Mags. Sure, he'd chit-chat with the vendors down at the market, or with the people he'd gone to school with when he met them on the streets. But it had been years since he'd just sat down with a person around his age, and talked about anything; got to know them.

Annie was an only child. Her mother tried to have other children, but only had still births after her. Like most men in their district, her father was a fisher. Her mother had a stand at the market where she would sell what he'd catch. She spent more time training than studying, like every Career. She had quite a bunch of friends, both in school and in the Career group, but as much as she loved hanging out with them, she also enjoyed spending time alone, or with Finnick. Her favorite color was purple, and her favorite fruit was orange. Her dream was to have a restaurant in the better-off part of town. She loved the smell of the sea, and of freshly cut wood.

Finnick loved spending time with her. He loved her good heart and her cocky attitude. He loved making her fall into the water when she tried to go in slowly. He loved stealing her bag so she'd chase him for it. He loved when she let him play with her hair. He loved her childish green ribbon. But most of all he loved her laugh. It was just like a baby's laugh; pure and careless, deprived of any malice or falseness.

Needless to say, he was restless before the Hunger Games. It had been years since Finnick had a decent night of sleep before the reaping. First, it was because he was afraid his name would be pulled out. Then, because he knew he'd have to mentor two children for the Games, knowing he'd watch at least one, and probably two of them die. And on top of that, he'd have to entertain the Capitol citizens, allow himself to be sold, and act as if he liked it. But now, worst of all, he had done what he had always promised himself not to do –he'd grown attached to someone who could be reaped. Worst yet, a Career.

He didn't even plan on going to bed the eve of the reaping. He stayed up, packing his bag, pacing back and forth, arranging some things on his house… what he didn't expect was the knocking on his door. He had no idea of whom it could be; nearly no one came over to his house, especially not at eleven in the night. Finnick wondered if it was Mags who needed something, or who wasn't feeling well. Worried, he opened the door, only to find Annie standing on his doorstep.

She was wearing training pants over her long sleeved night gown, and her green ribbon was tied in an untidy bow, keeping her hair from her face.

"Can I come in?" she asked nervously.

Finnick nodded, looking at her weirdly. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep" she replied, bracing herself.

"How long did you try? It's only eleven… "

"Oh Finnick you know very well I won't be able to!" she told him rather angrily.

The Victor sighed, leading her to his kitchen and making her sit at the table. He started warming milk, watching her with the corner of his eyes.

"You won't be reaped" he told her, knowing very well why she was there.

"How can you know for sure?"

"I can't" he admitted, not looking at her. "But come on. What are the odds? There are a lot of other girls. And Careers who probably will step in for you if you get picked"

"Or maybe not because I'm a career myself" she retorted. "_Someone_ has to be picked. It could as well be me"

"Are you taking the Tessera?" the man asked, looking at her worried. She only answered with a nod. "So your name is in there twenty times?"

"Exactly…"

Finnick sighed, adding the powdered chocolate that was sent to him from the Capitol to the warm milk and placing it in front of her.

"It doesn't mean anything"

"Finnick, I'm not here for you to lie to me. I might not get picked, but then again I might" she paused to eye the drink suspiciously. "What is this?"

"Drink it. It's good. You'll feel better" He sat by her side, staring at her. "So? Why are you here?"

"So you tell me what to do in case I get reaped." She tried the hot chocolate and by the look on her face, she did like it.

"I'll do that anyways. You don't need to be mentored now"

"I mean, when they call my name." she explained. "How should I react? What will happen after? Where do I go? When will you join me?"

"You've been witnessing reaping all your life and it's now that you come up with these questions?" the man asked, trying to stir the subject away from her fears.

"It's now that I'm comfortable enough with knocking on your door in the middle of the night" she replied, wrapping her hands around the mug to keep them warm as she took slow gulps of the hot chocolate.

"After the tributes are reaped, they are lead into a room in the Justice building where their family and friends can say goodbye. Then they go to a train that will lead them to the capitol. That's where I meet them. And if you want to know what to do in case you a reaped…." He gently pulled her ribbon off. "Don't wear this, first thing. It makes you look younger, and vulnerable. You'll be seen as a week target"

"But I thought you-"

"I like it. But I don't look at you and wonder how easy you will be to kill, so the effects are different. Besides, the Capitol doesn't deserve to see how cute you are with this" Annie smiled a bit, which encouraged him to go on. "If you want to keep your hair off your face, use a normal hairband. Keep your head high. Try not to look scared or angry or pleased, or anything else. Keep a straight face and walk up there."

Finnick held the ribbon out so she could take it back, but she gently pushed his hand back towards him. "Keep it. You'll give it back to me if I don't get reaped. That way, I can't forget not to put it"

He smiled at her and put the green ribbon in his pocked, then gently brushed away the hair that was falling on her face, placing it behind her ear. "How do you like the hot chocolate?"

"It's pretty good" she admitted, putting down her empty mug.

"Come" he ordered gently, leading her to the living room and sitting on the couch with her. She automatically leaned against him, and he put his arm around her protectively.

"Will you be able to sleep tonight?" she asked softly, after a very long time, looking up at his incredible green eyes.

"Probably not" He knew there was no point lying to her. "But you should try and get some sleep."

"You know I won't be able to. I'm terrified"

Finnick stroked her hair gently with his free hand. "You shouldn't be. Even if you do get reaped, I won't let you die"

"I bet you tell that to every tribute" she sighed.

"No. I never make that promise because it's impossible to keep. But with you, it's different. I won't let you die, Annie" She looked up at him, and he knew she believed him. "Here we are talking about things that probably won't happen. You should get some sleep. I have guest rooms, if you want"

The girl shook her head, getting up. "I should get home. If my parents wake up and I'm not there, they'll panic"

Finnick stood up to guide her to the door, knowing it was no use insisting. Though he wasn't happy about her going home this late at night, he understood her concern for her parents. After opening the door, she turned around to say goodbye.

"Thanks, Finnick. You're probably the only one who'd make me feel better in a day like this"

He couldn't help but smile at such a compliment. "Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home?"

"I'm fine" she assured him with a shake of her head. She started to turn away, but suddenly changed her mind and took his face in her hands, rising on her toes to plant a kiss on his lips.

Before he could react, she had already hurried away.

Finnick had a hard time hiding how tense he was at the reaping. He knew Mags had noticed. Then again, she notices everything. But he hoped no one else had. The cameras must be on him quite often, so he had to put on an act, pretend to be his joking, relaxed self, adding the seductive touch that the Capitol loved so much. But still, he couldn't keep his eyes off Lutrian Barton.

Lutrian Barton was the escort for the district 4 tributes. He was a short, plumb man with an incredibly red toupet that hid his bald patch. The rest of his hair was a bit more orange, making him look rather comical. But Finnick wasn't in the mood for laughing this time. His heart was racing as he reached into the bowl with the girls' names, and nearly stopped when he read the name.

"Annie Cresta"


	4. Chapter 4

Alright, here's the fourth chapter! I'd like to thank those who have reviewed and favorite-d the fic for their kind support :) I hope you continue enjoying the story!

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><p>Finnick's eyes darted to where he'd spotted Annie before the reaping had started. People were moving away as she slowly walked to the stage. Her face was composed even if she was quite pale.<p>

No one stepped in for her.

She didn't look at him as she climbed up the stage, and stood motionless as Lutrian called the boy tribute: "Merkil Jorat!"

This time, the crowd of boys parted to show a young boy, tall and skinny, around the age of thirteen – fourteen at the most – make his way to the stage. But before he could reach it a taller, more muscular boy pulled away from the crowd.

"I volunteer" he said, loud enough to be clear, but certainly showing no interest in protecting the boy.

This was how it worked with the Careers. If one of them was reaped, another one would hardly never volunteer (except those years with the insanely blood-thirsty ones), but when it was someone else, one of them always stepped up. This is what they were brought up to do. And there were enough brainwashed kids to do so.

The Career's name was Nepto Ruens. He was tall, and so muscular that his body seemed rectangular. His skin was tan like most people in the district, and he head dark hair and eyes. That boy could snap Annie's neck with one hand if he wanted. Finnick had to convince them to stay together.

He was always bored when the mayor read the Treaty of Treason, but that particular day it seemed longer than ever. Annie didn't try to meet his eyes once during the whole ceremony. In fact, she just stood there, eyes lost somewhere else. As soon as it was over, Finnick went home to take his bag and decided to wait in the train as the tributes said goodbye to their loved ones. He had placed his stuff in his room and was sitting on one of the couches of the living area when Mags came in. She slowly came to sit by his side and stared at him with that sharp look she had, that told him she knew everything that was going on in his mind.

"You're fond of that girl, aren't you?" she asked. Finnick was sure she knew the answer, so he simply nodded. "She's the one you want us to keep alive"

This was one of the hardest moments he'd experienced as a mentor. There was to be only one victor. So they had to decide pretty early who'd be the one they'd be seeking sponsors for. Usually they'd wait until they got to the Capitol, had the training scores, the interviews, knew what the public was thinking… but this time it was different, and Mags knew it. This time, there was no hesitation. He barely felt sorry for the one they would sacrifice. He looked straight into her eyes. "Yes"

Mags nodded, and the man felt immensely grateful. Mags always understood. They didn't need long dialogues to know what the other one wanted, needed or felt. He was glad he didn't have to explain how he'd let his guard down, how he'd fallen for that girl…

"We'll need to watch her carefully" the old woman told him. "Know everything she can do"

"Yeah" he agreed, feeling his stomach was in a tight knot. Wanting something to do, he got up and took Mags bag for her, bringing it to her compartment. After that he went to his, and lay on his bed until the train was in motion. This way he was sure she was there. He got up and went to the room that was usually assigned to the girl tribute. The door was half open and he could see her sitting in her bed. She looked up hearing his footsteps, and he allowed himself in, closing the door behind him.

"I told you…" was the only think she murmured before getting up and sliding herself in his arms.

He held her tight against him, his hand stroking her long hair and her back gently. He didn't know what to say; part of him felt that she had said it so much she had cursed herself. But he mostly was struck with how unfair the situation was. Of all the girls who could have been picked, it had to be the one he cared about.

"It'll be alright-"

"You keep saying that" she cut him off, looking up. "That's what you said yesterday about the reaping. And here I am"

"My promise stands. I won't let you die" he stroked her cheek gently, staring into her scared and angry green eyes, before repeating it in a whisper. "I won't let you die…"

"You better not" she murmured, putting her head back against his chest.

Finnick wanted to stay like this forever. Keep her in his arms, away from danger. Smell the perfume in her hair, feel her soft skin against his. But he had gotten used to the fact that he never got what he wanted. He pulled away gently, putting her hair behind her ear.

"We'll discuss the Games during dinner. You should relax now. Take a bath, put on comfortable clothes… We'll call you when it's dinner time"

She simply nodded, pressing her cheek against his hand that had stayed there after brushing her hair away.

"Annie…" he gently pulled away. "We won't be able to have more moments like this. We'll be constantly watched. Who knows what disadvantage you could have, if people found out I had a preference for you…"

The girl seemed upset, but she didn't complain. She must know he was right. She was well aware things weren't easy at the Capitol. Sighing, Finnick gave her one last kiss on the forehead and left the room.

The beginning of the meal was silent, as the kids, marveled by the abundance and variety of food, gulp everything down. Finally, when their stomachs seemed full – the time between each bite was bigger – Mags started to speak.

"We'll need to start thinking your strategy" she told them, looking at one than the other carefully. "Are you familiar with each other?"

"Yes" Nepto replied. His voice was hoarse, as if he had had an injury to the throat. "We are in the same class"

He meant training, but with Lutrian at the table and the servants coming in and out to bring in food, it was unwise to say it out loud. Not that the Capitol wasn't aware of their "illegal" training, but it would be pushing it too far to talk about it openly in front of these people.

"If you don't get along, you better start now" Mags told them.

"Oh no, we do" Annie told her, in that gentle, honest tone of hers.

Of course they did… Finnick doubted there was someone on earth who could not get along with Annie.

"Good, because you two are going to have to stick together" he told them, sipping a bit of his wine. "When you get there, you will have training sessions with the other tributes. I want you to observe them carefully. We usually team up with districts one and two. But I want you to try and get a glimpse of their character, because if you all survive until the final eight, they will eventually turn against you. Maybe even before"

"And if it's only us in the end?" asked Nepto rather stupidly.

"Well, you'll have to deal with that between yourselves" Mags replied.

"But that is highly improbable. I don't remember ever witnessing two people from the same district making it together at the end. Even if it's the two of you against one final tribute, still act as a team. It'll be easier to take him down being two, and one of you risks dying at it anyway" he knew he was talking about this rather coldly, but it was the only way he found of hiding his preference towards Annie. "You two are only to try and kill each other if you are the only ones left. Am I clear?"

The two nodded in silence, probably surprised about how serious and straight to the point he was. Mentor Finnick was completely different than the joking, charming Finnick back home.

"If one of you was to disobey this order, we will stop getting sponsors for you" he added.

Mags eyed Finnick in silence. He had never talked like that to the tributes before. But she understood. She knew that Nepto represented a threat to Annie. Finnick had already started protecting her.

"Any questions?" the old woman asked more gently.

"What will we do tomorrow?" Annie asked in a soft voice, as if Finnick's tone had intimidated her as well.

"You'll meet your stylists." She explained. "They'll work with you most of the day. And at night there are the opening ceremonies"

"Well discuss your training strategies once we get there. Tomorrow will be about your looks and making an impression on the public" Finnick told them. He felt bad about his harshness before, so he added in his joking tone. "Of course, ever since I arrived, expectations of district four have been pretty high"

Annie gave a small smile, but no one was in the mood to laugh. They all went to bed after dinner, and as much as Finnick wanted to check on Annie, he stayed in his room, trying to get some sleep.

Lutrian woke them all up early the following morning, so they could have breakfast before arriving. The mood was lighter during the meal; maybe the kids managed to sleep after all. Finnick remembered that it was easier for him to sleep after than before his reaping. Doubts eat you up slowly and endlessly. Knowing the truth – as bad as it was – was always more reassuring.

Finnick was waiting by the window for Annie and Nepto to change. When they finally came back to the main car, he beckoned them with a wave of his hand.

"Welcome to the Capitol" he said bitterly, as the view of the majestic city took the tribute's breath away.


	5. Chapter 5

Alright, here is the next chapter :) I hope you guys continue enjoying the story! Thanks for those who review, and those who don't... don't be shy! It's always nice, even if it's to point out things that should get better ;)

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><p>As it was customary for the tributes to spend the first day with their stylists, Finnick didn't see Annie since they left the train. He didn't have much time to worry about it either; as soon as he got there he had to go pay a visit to the ladies who adored him. He managed to get away just before the opening ceremony, but by the time he got to the Training Center, the chariots were already leaving to make the tour.<p>

He joined Mags and the other mentors at the balcony that was reserved for them, then watched the tributes closely. He tried to have a good look at each district, but his eyes were glued to their chariot as soon as he saw it.

Unlike the other tributes, Annie and Nepto were sitting. Normally this would be a disadvantage, it would make them look weak… but it wasn't any chair they were sitting on. They were replicas of beautiful thrones in a rusty color, with decorative shells and seaweed. Even the horses were dyed green, and had their manes and tails braided with green strings. But this was nothing compared to how exquisite de tributes were looking. Nepto was wearing a very realistic looking green fin, and nothing else. The stylists had put something on his skin to make it look wet. But Annie… Finnick could only look at her. Her hair was decorated with sea flowers. The stylists put her on a fin too, and her long dark hair was the only thing covering her breasts.

Finnick had a hard time deciding what he was feeling. The stylists had the annoying habit of putting the tributes out there with very few articles of clothing. He always found that rather annoying, but today it nearly drove him mad with fury, knowing that the whole of Panem would see Annie like this. But in the same time, he couldn't help but be captivated by her beauty. She really did seem magical like this. At least this would surely get sponsors for them.

When the chariots pulled back into the lower level of the Training Center, Finnick was already waiting for his tributes. They opened a zipper on the side of their fin that allowed them to walk, and climbed down. Annie was hugging herself, visibly uncomfortable with her lack of clothes, so as soon as they came up to him, Finnick took of his jacket and put it around her shoulders. She gladly zipped it up.

"You guys were great" he told them, knowing better than to let his jealousy show. "I'm sure you caught the attention of a lot of sponsors"

"Well I certainly hope I didn't do this for nothing" Annie, muttered, still hugging herself even if she was no longer naked.

"I doubt it. And I think you made an impression on the other tributes as well, they keep looking over here" he told them, and they both turned to look. The district one tributes, wearing clothes made out of fake diamonds, gave them what seemed to be an approving nod. "Smile or something, be friendly"

Annie gave them a sweet smile and Nepto nodded back, then turned to look again at their mentor as he started talking. He led them up to their floor, telling them that Lutrian would join them for dinner to tell them what was thought of them at the ceremony. When they got to the fourth floor, he sent them to take a shower and told them to be ready for dinner.

An hour later they were all sitting at the long table in the dining room, where a blond Avox would bring in their meal. Lutrian couldn't hide his excitement, and dropped his fork at least three times, and tipped over his glass once.

"You two are part of the favorites!" he was telling them in a happy squeal. "They were really impressed by you! You manage to capture the attention of those who only look at what's pretty _and_ those who are actually searching for the potential victor!"

"What he's saying is that you both looked gorgeous, and the outfit also showed that you are both fit" Mags explained.

"Yes, yes, congratulations to your stylists for that" Lutrian told them, making a hand gesture towards them.

Dera and Kolt, the stylists, were brother and sister. Overly excited, extremely superficial but with no bad intentions at all. They took their jobs very seriously and with passion, and were happy to get a pair of good looking tributes this year. Finnick had to keep telling himself that to not get angry at them. He knew that it had nothing to do with Kolt wanting to see Annie naked – he had to for his job anyway – and that he meant no harm by her costume. The victor was mostly angry with himself, because he knew that his jealousy was out of place and that it could get Annie in trouble.

"Oh, why thank you very much!" Dera gushed happily, pushing her purple hair out of her face with her long, golden finger nails.

"We were _dying_ to make this costume, for like, ages!" Kolt told them, shinning his pearl white teeth at them. "We finally got a perfect pair for them!"

Annie gave them a polite smile, but Nepto and she clearly didn't share their enthusiasm. Nor Kolt's use of the word "dying" so freely, as if it wasn't something that would probably happen to them soon.

"As long as it gets us sponsors…" said Annie optimistically.

"Oh, it will!" Lutrian told her happily. "But you have your work to do too. The Training starts tomorrow"

"Yes, we need to talk about that" Finnick interrupted, putting his napkin down. "Since we're all done, you two follow me"

He led them to the living room, where comfortable couches waited for them near the television. Annie sat by Finnick's side, close enough for it to be comforting without it being suspicious. Nepto took her other side and Mags sat in front of them.

"So? What are you two good at?" she asked, nearly automatically after all these years.

"I'm good with an axe" Nepto told her with a smile.

"Yes, he's quite brilliant really" Annie confirmed. "I'm good with ropes... and I guess I can handle a knife pretty well"

"She can do _anything_ with a rope" the boy emphasized.

"Alright, this is what you'll do tomorrow: I want you to try every station. Make sure you go to the ones you're good at when the tributes from district one and two are watching. Show them how good you are. Don't be frightening so they'll see you as an immediate threat, but be good enough so they'll see in you valuable allies"

"Do we really have to team up with them?" asked Nepto, who didn't seem very pleased with that idea.

"Yes" Mags answered shortly.

"If you're not their allies you'll be their enemies. Especially you, you look menacing" Finnick told him. "Besides, you'll do more damage all together. You'll eventually have to get away from them, if you all make it until there are only ten of you, that's probably when you should get away. They'll be thinking of ways to kill you by then, and you should do the same."

"We don't want you to disregard the survival skills" Mags added. "You'll have the food supplies in the beginning, but once you desert de other tributes, you'll need to survive with what's out there"

"So we try and make friends with the people from districts one and two right away?" Annie asked.

"Yes. Sit with them at lunch. Be nice even if you can't stand them" He looked at Nepto, then Annie, for quite a long time. "That's basically it. Of course, I'll need you to observe the other tributes and tell me what you think. Questions?"

"We've got a chance, don't we?" Nepto asked. "Of winning? One of us?"

"I honestly think you do" Mags told him. It wasn't a lie – though she doubted that _he_ would. Not with Finnick's mind set.

"You should try and rest, you two" the man told them in a calm, kind voice, that made him sound like an older brother talking about the first day of school.

Somehow this seemed to reassure them, and they smiled at him. Nepto didn't often smile, but when he did, it seemed to show his true self, that Finnick was just starting to see. He may have been tall and muscular and scary looking, but he was a good guy in the end. Quite simple minded, but he had his kind side. He was surely a fierce fighter, but with his friends – or the closest thing he might have to friends right now – he was inoffensive. Finnick had even watched Annie and him talk at times, and he seemed very friendly with her.

They both went to their rooms, and after talking a bit with Mags, Finnick went to his. But unfortunately, he wasn't going to sleep. He changed into the fancy clothes that had been left in the room for him. He was putting on his shirt when he saw her in the mirror. She was standing silently at his door, staring at him. He turned his head a bit to look at her.

"You're going somewhere?" Annie asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah" he answered, looking at the mirror again and buttoning up his shirt, finding himself unable to look at her. "You need something?"

"I just… wanted to talk" she told him, resting her hand against the frame of the door and looking down.

"I'm sorry, I can't now, Ann" he told her, fixing the sleeve of his shirt. "I'll find time for you tomorrow, okay? You should sleep"

He went to the door to leave, but she looked up at him, not moving out of the way. "Where are you going?"

"Out" he answered simply.

"Yeah, I figured that part" she retorted.

"Look, I've got… people to see" he told her, passing a hand nervously through his locks.

"What people?" she inquired.

"People. People you meet when you're a victor"

"Women, you mean" Annie said, staring straight into his eyes.

"Annie, you're prying. I have to go" he told her, gently taking her by her shoulders and taking her out of his way. "Get some sleep"

She stared at him, her brows furrowed slightly, and he walked away, feeling even worse than he usually did when he went to this sort of meeting. He and Annie didn't have anything. At least not officially. She kissed him once, this didn't mean they were married. Yes, he cared for her, and a lot, but this was not the time to start a relationship. He wasn't sure if he wanted to, for both of their sakes. His job was to mentor her. Keep her safe. That was all.

In a way he resented Annie for doing this to him. It was already hard enough. Did she actually think he was doing this for his pleasure? Didn't she realize he was nothing more than the Capitol's whore? He hated it. Every bit of it. These pampered, spoiled women with their rich houses and horrible sense of style. Their sickening perfumes. The fact that some of them were probably twice his age. Their need to feel loved and praised.

But he had to push all this to a corner of his mind, if he wanted to put on an act correctly. He got into the elevator, closing his eyes to try and concentrate on being charming and seductive… but all he could think of was Annie's green, judgmental eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

And here's the next chapter!

Thank you all the new readers, all the people that have been favoriting/"story alert"-ing the story, it means alot! And also the few of you who are reviewing!

I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

Oh and it's March so... Hunger Games movie this month!

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><p>There he was, in the middle of the desert, surrounded by a dozen of other tributes. Who were all trying to kill him. He had his trident, but it was getting heavier by the second. He had managed to take most of them down, but they had done a lot of damage to him too. And every time he killed one, others seemed to appear. His wounds were getting worse and he couldn't hold himself up anymore. He fell over on his face, and managed to roll over to his back, but his trident was too heavy for him to lift. Someone was standing over him with a knife. The sun was blocking his view, so he only managed to see his murderer's face when she leaned over in front of the light. Long dark hair brushed his face as Annie's green eyes stared at him.<p>

A shake on his shoulder jerked him awake, but when he opened his eyes he was still staring at those vivid green eyes. He sat up in a panicked motion that made Annie pull her hand away, surprised.

"Finnick, it's me" she said in a soothing voice.

The man took a moment to calm down, reminding himself that it was just a dream; that Annie would never try to kill him. How could she kill anyone? She was the sweetest girl ever. He took deep breaths, trying to control his heartbeat, and passed a hand through his hair.

"Sorry, I just-"

"Had a nightmare, I know" she completed, sitting at the edge of his bed now that she was sure he had recognized her. "It seemed pretty bad. You were thrashing about quite violently. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, it's fine, I…. Annie, what are you doing here?" he inquired, realizing she was in his room in the middle of the night.

"I heard you whimpering so I came in to see if you were okay" she explained calmly, gently stroking his arm.

"I was that loud?" he asked apprehensively.

"No, I don't think the others heard you" she reassured him. "But I was up already. I couldn't sleep anymore so I was wandering around"

"You were wandering around…. the hallway?" he asked her, suspicious.

"Fine" she sighed, glad it was dark so he couldn't see her blush. "I wanted to know if you were back, so I listened at the door to see if I could come in…"

Finnick took a deep breath, as if exasperated, but took the hand Annie was stroking his arm with. "What time is it?"

Annie squeezed his hand gently "A bit after five in the morning"

The low, pinkish light that was infiltrating the room through the slits of the curtains confirmed it. People tend to think that sunrises are slow, but they are wrong. Sunrises are stunning, but so fast that you barely enjoy the moment, and if you weren't expecting one, it surprises you when it happens. At that moment the room was already lighter than when Annie woke him, even if the curtains were still shut. He could make out her face now, without her head being centimeters from his. She was still wearing a long white nightgown and her flowing hair was a bit in front of her face. Finnick leaned forward to brush it aside, and look properly at her.

"What time did you come back?" she asked, gently pushing his hand away even if she didn't let go of the other one.

"A few hours ago…" he answered, quite annoyed she was going back to the subject.

Annie's lips pursed slightly at that answer. "I should let you go back to sleep then"

"There's no point, we have to be up in around an hour" he told her. "You know you shouldn't be here, right?"

"Finnick, what is it with this paranoia?" the girl asked, annoyed. "Do you think we're being watched constantly?"

"You never know, Annie" he answered calmly. "But since you're already here anyway…"

He pulled her against him, playing gently with her hair, but she quickly wriggled out of his arms, standing up. Surprised, he looked at her, but she just shook her head. "Just… don't do that"

"Don't… do what?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.

"This!" she answered irritably. "This, like… like you care for me, while you've been out all night seeing some Capitol tramp!"

"Annie, are you actually jealous?" Finnick couldn't suppress a grin.

"No!" Finnick had never seen Annie this mad – he'd never seen her get mad at all, for a matter of fact. "Why would I be jealous? It's not like there's anything between us! But you act like maybe there is and then-"

"Annie-" he tried to explain.

"No, don't "Annie" me Finnick I-"

"You came in to my room!" he reminded her.

"Yes because you were having a nightmare!" she retorted.

"You listened at the door to see if I was back!" he pointed out.

"Okay, well-! Well-" she pushed her hair out of her face angrily. "It's not because I care about you that I want you to treat me like this"

"If you would let me explain!" he said, getting up too.

"What is there to explain? You're enjoying the fact that you're so – so desired and-"

"Annie!" he put a hand over her mouth, not knowing if he should be annoyed or amused, and only took it away when he couldn't hear her muffled complaints anymore. "I do a lot of things I don't want, Annie. But these things are necessary for a lot of people's wellbeing. I wish I could explain better, but I can't"

The girl stared at him for a long time, and he knew she understood what he was implying. She knew that he was afraid of saying something wrong, in case they were being watched. She also realized that this whole scene could have compromised them both already as it was. But this didn't mean that she was any less displeased with all of this.

"Well, when you can, will you?" she asked him in a much calmer tone.

"I will" Finnick promised.

She nodded. "I should go take a shower and get ready then. Breakfast's quite early isn't it?"

"It is" he agreed. "And we'll have some last minute advice for you and Nepto"

"Well, good… end of dawn or whatever" she told him, heading for the door.

"Annie?"

She stopped and turned to look at him. "Yeah?"

"Thanks. For waking me from the nightmare"

Annie had a small smile. One of her usual kind ones. She just couldn't manage to stay mad with someone. "You'd have done the same for me"

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After last minute advice from Mags, Finnick, and even Lutrian, Annie and Nepto were led down to the place where the training sessions would take place. As their mentor had instructed them, they kept their best sessions for when the other Careers were watching. Predictably, districts one and two were first interested in each other. The boy and girl from district one were incredibly dexterous with all kinds of swords. The girl from district two was the most intimidating though; she was nearly as tall and muscular as Nepto, and actually crushed a dummy's head with a swing of her club. Annie didn't know what was scarier: that, or the fact that her district partner could break wood with his bare hands.

As these two districts showed off for each other, Nepto practiced throwing spears and aiming with a bow, and Annie started with the edible plants, then did a bit of knots, which she was talented at, but knew that it wouldn't impress the others.

When they sensed that the district one and two tributes were directing their attention to them, Annie and Nepto both went to their stations, one showing off her skills with a knife, the other his power with an axe. They figured they did pretty well, because when it was lunchtime, the district one boy invited them to eat with him and the other Careers.

The girl from district one was named Satin, and had short red hair and hazel eyes. She wasn't very smart, so she didn't worry Annie much, because even though she was a skilled fighter, if they needed to turn against each other she knew she'd easily outsmart her. She was more worried about her district partner, Marble. He was eighteen years old, though smaller than the other boys, and had a rather square head and blond hair. His grey eyes were small and calculating. He didn't talk much but he observed a lot, and Annie was sure he trusted her just as much as she trusted him. The scary girl from district two was surprisingly nice. Her name was Eurybia, she had light blue eyes and thin brown hair. Her district partner, Adrastos, who turned up to be only fourteen, was unreasonably excited about the Games and taking out as many tributes as he could. Annie's eyes were wide with shock every time he spoke, and Nepto had a hard time hiding his distrust for this boy.

They seemed to have concealed their thoughts pretty well though, because when it was time to go back to the stations, Satin told them to come eat with them again the following day. They agreed, trying to sound as friendly as possible, and went off together to the wrestling station.

"What do you think?" Nepto asked, as they were waiting for the trainer to finish wrestling with the district seven boy.

"Eurybia's okay, but I don't like the others" Annie answered in a quiet voice. "Adrastos is terrifying. He's so sadistic!"

"I hope he gets killed quickly" the boy told her.

Normally, that would have been a horrible thing to say. But they both knew everyone in this room was going to die soon, except for one, and they might as well hope for the worse to go first. Annie nodded, but didn't say anything else.

"We don't have to team up with them" Nepto told her. "We can go out on our own"

"No, Finnick told us to stick with them"

"Yeah well Finnick doesn't know them, and he won't be in the arena, will he?"

"No, but he already was, and since he's here today that means he knows what's he's talking about" Annie retorted.

"Well, no tributes have come back alive ever since he's started mentoring" the boy argued.

"He's only been a mentor for five years! Nepto, I trust him, and I'll do as he says" she told him quite firmly. "If you want to go out on your own, that will be up to you. But I'll team up with them, and I'd like it if you did so too"

"I won't leave you alone, Annie" he answered in a soft tone.

"Thanks" she adjusted her ponytail. "Why do you hate Finnick so much?"

"I don't. I like him sometimes. But he's quite harsh" her friend explained. "And he tells us stuff as if it was advice for a child's game. This isn't; we're people with different minds, we can't predict what will happen, especially when we're trying to survive"

"Finnick's trying to help us the best we can" Annie told him, not understanding why she was defending him so strongly even after their spat.

"I hope you're right" Nepto answered plainly, ending the conversation to have his turn at wrestling.

As Annie watched the trainer give him tips, she thought about what he said, and knew she wasn't exactly right. She knew deep down that Finnick wasn't trying to keep them both alive. She was positive that despite everything, he wanted her to win, which meant that Nepto's survival was not his priority. She wished she had noble feelings, so that she'd be able to want her friend to live, even if it meant her death - but she didn't. Those feelings were meant for fables and fairy tales, not for real life. As horrible as she thought this was, she wanted to live, even if it meant Finnick unjustly favoring her over Nepto. Even if it meant he had to die eventually.


	7. Chapter 7

I'd once again like to thank all of my readers, you guys mean alot to me! Though I don't get many reviews I 'm getting more and more Story Alerts/Favorite Stories and I really apreciate it.

I hope you guys like this chapter!

Enjoy :)

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><p>The members of District 4, as well as Lutrian, were all sitting in the living room, staring silently at the TV. The two days of training had passed incredibly fast. Nepto and Annie had easily formed an alliance with the other Careers; they seemed to think it was best not to make an enemy of them. Not with Nepto's muscles and Annie's brains. And secretly, Annie too was glad she was having Adrastos on her side, at least in the beginning. She didn't want to have to worry about him in the bloodbath.<p>

Earlier that day they had had their private sessions. Finnick had advised Annie to stick to the knives; as much damage as he believed she could do with a simple piece of rope, it won't be impressive on dummies – she should just save it for the arena. So she did what she was told, hoping the Gamekeepers would find it satisfactory.

She watched in silence, hugging her knees against her chest, as the scores came up. Satin got 8, and Marble 9. Eurybia got 10, and Adastros pulled on a 12. This made Annie's stomach twist, so she shot a worried glance at Nepto and Finnick, before looking at the TV again. Her name was just up with an 8, and Nepto got a 10.

There was nothing quite impressive about the other scores, outside the fact that the District 7 boy got an 8 too, which wasn't really expected. Finnick turned off the TV and looked at the two tributes, frowning.

"You two did well" he told him.

"Then why do you look so displeased?" Annie asked.

"Because the districts one and two tributes did very well too" he kept staring at them, but his thoughts seemed lost elsewhere. "You'll really have to watch your backs. At the first sign of anything suspicious from them – especially this Adastros – leave. Together."

"What do we say in the interviews?" asked Nepto.

"We'll coach you on that tomorrow" Mags replied. "We'll keep to the plan: try to make you look strong for the sponsors, but not too menacing for the other tributes"

"Tonight, just relax" Finnick told them. "It'll be one of the last good night's sleeps you'll have in a while"

_Or ever_, Annie thought.

Everyone made their way to their rooms. Finnick, who had hung back to talk about the details for the next day with Lutrian, got to his room later than the others. He was just opening the door when he had that strange sensation of being watched, and turned his head. Sure enough, Annie was standing at the door of her room, her emerald eyes locked on him. He sighed, staring back at her, getting used to her creeping up on him. He knew she was going to ask or want something, so he waited.

"Are you leaving again?" Her voice was so soft it took him aback. She didn't seem to be accusing him anymore, but nearly pleading with him to answer in the negative.

"I'm afraid so" he replied, hating himself for feeling guilty.

She looked down, disappointed. "Can you try to be here tomorrow?"

Finnick didn't really know how to react. Of course, he wanted to be with her, of course he cared for her much more than he should and would love to spend every moment with her instead of with his Capitol lovers… but this was strange. They didn't have a relationship – not more than friendship, anyway – and yet… she was acting as if. And this was making him feel uneasy. Because part of him wanted to act the same way.

"I'll try" he told her. "But I can't promise anything. Good night"

Not waiting for an answer, he went into his room to change. He knew he was a bit harsh but he thought she sort of deserved it. He was already stressed out enough with the mentoring, and having to see all these women, and wanting to keep her alive, without her making it even harder for him to accept the possibility that maybe all that he can do wouldn't be enough.

Finnick tried to concentrate on the lights of the city in front of him, so that he wouldn't act nervously. They had just come back from the interviews. Both Nepto and Annie had done well. Nepto had passed off as a gentle brute – volunteering for the younger boy, saying he was friends with Annie and wished to keep her safe as much as he could, yet flexing his muscles to show them off, and telling Flickerman he could kill a person with his bare hands if he had to. Annie on the other hand had charmed them with her cockiness, her laugh, and her quick thinking. Finnick had already half a dozen people willing to sponsor them.

The bad news were that the Games started the following day. He won't even be able to go with them to the arena. Nor say goodbye in the morning. He had wished them luck before ushering them to their rooms, giving last minute advice. He had also discretely slipped a paper into Annie's hand.

He sighed, passing a hand through his bronze hair. Maybe she had decided not to read his note; maybe she had, and didn't wish to meet him. He was probably wasting his time, but he couldn't bring himself to go back downstairs. He still hoped she would want to say a final, private goodbye to him. Even if – and he had to convince himself of this, if he wanted to convince her – she was coming back alive. But the minutes dragged away and she didn't show up. He was considering giving up when the sound of fabric rubbing against itself made him turn around.

Sure enough, there she was, barefoot, with her light blue dressing gown tied around her waist. The swishing they made when she walked was the only noise she was making. She walked up to him in her light steps and stopped just a few centimeters away, playing with her hands nervously.

"I got your note" she told him finally, looking at her hands.

"I wanted to say goodbye properly" he explained.

"Here we're not-?"

"No" he took her hands so she'd stop twitching them, stroking them both with his thumbs. "Lutrian always brings me up here when he wants to talk about things off record."

She nodded, but didn't say anything else. She gently squeezed Finnick's hands, as if to make sure he was really there, as if clinging on to him was the only thing that was stopping her from freaking out. Her mentor wondered if she wasn't talking because she was too nervous to, or because it meant that she would eventually have to say goodbye, and that it would as hard for her as it was for him.

"How are you feeling?" he whispered kindly.

"Oh, as if you didn't know!" she answered, letting go of his hands to hug herself. "I don't want to go. I really don't want to go!"

Instinctively, Finnick pulled her against him, locking her in his strong arms, one hand on her lower back so she stayed against him, the other holding her head against his torso, as if hiding the view of her near future from her. Unfortunately, the images of death and suffering were all in her head, and though he could shield her view he could not stop her mind. He leaned his head forwards, resting it against hers, taking deep breaths. His calm breathing was soothing to her; slowly he felt her muscles relax. Annie lifted her face up to look at him, still worried even if she wasn't panicking anymore.

"I don't want to die" she murmured, meeting his eyes.

And in those emerald green eyes, Finnick could see everything she was too afraid to say, for fear of breaking down, or by shame, or because she simply didn't even know how to put it in words. He could see she was terrified out of her wits, that despite being trained since the age of ten, she was still a young girl, too young to face death, too young be going through what the Capitol was imposing. He could see how unfair she found this situation, how she wished this was not happening, how she only wanted to be back home in District 4. He could see that she didn't want to sleep, she was afraid of tomorrow coming too soon, that she wanted to stop time. But that she wanted to be rested, she didn't want to die, not right away, not at all. But above all he could see that she was hoping – and she knew it was in vain – for a miracle. For someone, something to help her, for the Games to be cancelled, for someone to replace her, for anything.

Yet, while she stared back at Finnick's stunning eyes, she didn't have numerous thoughts and feelings to read. No, those eyes whose color matched hers were telling her only one thing: _I won't let you die._

The resolution and confidence he was showing seemed to stir something inside her; as if taken by a sudden, desperate urge, she started speaking: "Finnick, in case something happens to me, I have to tell you that-"

"No" he interrupted, putting two fingers on her lips, making her look at him confused. "Whatever you have to say, save it for when you get back"

She took his hand, gently but firmly pushing it away. "We both know that I may never-"

But she never finished her sentence, because the Victor had leaned forward, locking her lips with his. He put both hands on her waist, pulling her closer, and without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his neck, grabbing the hair in the back of his head with one hand. Their kiss had a sudden urgency in it, as if they both knew it might be their last, and yet knew they had to do all in their power if they didn't want it to be. It was the desperate kiss of two lovers who have too much to say and not enough time, not to mention words. Of a man who know exactly what his girl is going to say, but is too afraid to hear the words, if she won't be back to repeat them. Of a girl who regrets all the time they could have had, now that they didn't have any at all.

With what seemed to be a herculean effort, Finnick pulled away, panting slightly, his lips still so close to Annie's that she could feel his warm breath on them.

"We should go back" he told her, as if even saying it was painful.

The tribute nodded, her eyes closed, and took a deep breath, before allowing Finnick to gently guide her back inside. They didn't speak through the elevator ride, but when they finally arrive on the floor, he turned to look at her.

"As hard as it may seem, try to get some sleep. You will need it" as she only nodded, he went on. "Do try to win"

"I will" she told him, going over to the door and stopping when her hand was in the handle to look at him. "Goodbye, Finnick"

He watched as she opened the door and disappeared out of his sight – maybe for the last time. He felt his heart twitch with a fear he had never felt. "Goodbye, Annie"


	8. Chapter 8

Hey! I won't write any long ramblings, I know you don't come here to read this anyway, but I just want to keep thanking you all for your support! The last chapter got much more reviews than usual and I really appreciated it. You guys are great!

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><p>Time had sped like never before. Before he could realize it was actually happening, Finnick was standing in front of the giant TV screen. All the mentors were required to watch the beginning of the Games together. They could watch the rest from their quarters, but they all knew better than to not show up for a couple of hours every day. This was another one of the Capitol's mind tricks; making them be in the same room, as they watch the kids from their districts being killed by those who were mentored by the people right next to them. Mags told Finnick this was probably the government's way to try and keep them from being friends; to make them resent each other and therefore not even consider uniting. Little did they know that this only amplified their anger towards the Capitol, and made them want to stick together even more.<p>

Most of the other mentors were sitting, but Finnick was unable to do so. He had spent the last ten minutes pacing back and forth, and finally, when the screen turned on, he stood behind the couch where Mags was sitting. Wrapped tightly around his left hand was the ribbon Annie had entrusted him with. And there, on the screen, as the cameras showed one tribute after the other, he saw Annie's pale face, looking around, her eyes wide with fear.

**xXx**

The tributes had only sixty seconds to take in the arena, before the gong told them it was safe to step out of the pods. This year, the Cornucopia was just by a river, and was filled as usual with objects that would be extremely precious for those who got their hands on them. Looking around, Annie saw they were in a valley. The river was coming down from one of the mountains, and an enormous dam seemed to be controlling the flow of the water. From where she was, she could not see where it disappeared to. All around them were mountains, covered with high trees that didn't allow them to see what else was there. On the top, there was something white, which Annie guessed to be snow even if she had never seen it before.

Knowing their time was almost up, she fixed her gaze on the Cornucopia, right after checking where each of her allies were. Then there was a loud gong… and it all started.

Everything happened so fast that Annie had no idea how she was keeping up with it, and thanked her conditioned reflexes for doing most of the work for her. She had sprinted towards the golden horn, and since she was very fit and light, was one of the first ones to get there. She stuck three knives in her belt and kept one in hand, and looked around to see if she was in danger. Just in time, because a boy – district 9, if she remembered well – was coming straight at her with a sword. She quickly dodged it, stabbing him on the back of the knee to incapacitate him, and ran forwards, having seen a rope. She got it with her other hand and desperately looked around for Nepto.

He was fighting the two tributes from district 11 at once, and was managing pretty well… but he didn't see the boy from three, taking advantage of the situation and running at him from behind. Without thinking, Annie chased after him, throwing her rope forward like a whip, aiming directly at his feet and making him fall. He rolled over quickly, jumping back up and turning to face his aggressor. Fuelled by her survival instincts, Annie lunged forwards, judging it better to make the first move and catch him of guard.

Visibly surprised, he tried to strike her with his axe, but she ducked out of the way and he lost balance when the weapon he swung with such force didn't hit anything. The girl took the advantage to pass her rope around his neck, pulling on it tight and making him release the axe as he tried and get rid of the rope. Nepto, who had just killed his boy adversary with an incredibly violent blow of a shield, and therefore sent the girl running, spun around, caught the axe the tribute 3 had dropped and stuck it in his chest. He stopped struggling and Annie quickly pulled away.

She met his eyes and they looked around. Those who had tried to fight were already dead. Those who were smart enough to flee were nowhere in sight. All of the other Careers were alive, clutching weapons and panting.

The canon started firing. Annie closed her eyes, counting them. Ten. Ten canon shots in total. Ten people were dead.

"We should move away so they can take the bodies" Marble pointed out, and without saying anything else, they both followed him away from the scene of the bloodbath. Annie did her best to not look at the corpses on the floor.

**xXx**

Finnick sighed in relief when it was all over and finally allowed himself to go sit down next to Mags. The other mentors were talking to each other, some lamenting the loss of their tributes – some even shed a few tears – others congratulating each other on their well-trained children, or discussing in low voices with the mentor from their district what to do next. Finnick hadn't realized how tense he was until he finally felt his body relax, and he needed to grip his knees tightly with his hands to keep them from shaking.

"You should put that away" Mags advised him kindly, when he seemed to be mastering himself again.

He followed her gaze and noticed she was looking at the ribbon that he still had wrapped around his hand. He stuck it in his pocket, not wishing to draw any suspicion, then looked at her again. "Well, they've made it both this far"

"Ten died. That means fourteen are still alive" she reminded him. "Including one of ours"

Finnick nodded. He had already accepted the fact that he couldn't root for both, but he knew it was harder for his old mentor. He knew Mags's heart broke a bit more every time one of the tributes died. Not that he was heartless – he felt that too. And usually he didn't make a preference between the two, and would be happy if any of them made it out alive. But this time, it was different.

He took Mags's hand, squeezing it gently. He knew she was far too old for this. The Capitol had tortured her enough. Next year, he would come alone. But he had more urgent things to think about.

"I think they'll be fine with provisions for a while" he told her. "But I'll still try and get some sponsors ready, in case things get bad"

"You do that" she told him with a sad smile.

He nodded, turning his eyes back to the screen once more, where the Career pack was organizing all they got from the Cornucopia.

**xXx**

Once everything was sorted – provisions, weapons, useful items – the group sat down to relax. Nepto had gotten some leaves from the trees in the forest, and Annie was doing her best to weave the unfamiliar plant into a shelter for them. Marble was busy sorting their first meal, and while Eurybia and Satin relaxed, Adastros was walking back and forth, talking to them, excited.

"That was amazing! I mean, the adrenaline! That is probably the best part of the games – apart from the final battle, of course – how will we ever feel that again? That was so awesome! Didn't you feel your heart pumping like crazy?"

He was looking at Eurybia, who merely nodded, knowing he wasn't actually expecting a full answer. Annie frowned, looking down at the sort of roof she was making and trying to ignore him.

"I can't wait until we go look for other people – I hope they don't kill each other, it'll spoil the fun – we should set off tomorrow. Until then we'll find a way to keep the stuff guarded, right? I can't wait for more action!" his excitement was making Annie sick, and by the expressions on Satin's, Eurybia's, and Nepto's face, they weren't enjoying this either. "I mean did you guys see when I snapped that girl's neck? It was awesome wasn't it? Wasn't it?"

He was expecting for someone to confirm this, but none of them seemed to want to even nod. But the way he was looking at them was making them nervous, and Annie saw that Satin was about to agree with him just to get him off their case, so she spoke before the girl could mutter a "yes".

"No." she said simply, not looking up from her weaving. "There was nothing "awesome" about that at all. Gruesome is the first adjective I can come up with, actually"

There was a horrible silence in which she felt all eyes on her. Eurybia and Satin were shocked – the latter maybe even afraid – Marble had stopped sorting the food to stare, Nepto was surprised she actually dared answer him, and Adastros seemed bewildered.

"What did you say?" he asked in a cold, threatening voice, when he finally got a grip of himself again.

"You heard me, Adastros" Annie replied. She kept the calmest face she could muster, even if she was in fact terrified. She already feared Adastros, and now she got on his bad side. But she couldn't afford to show fear now, or she would be doomed. So she looked up, straight into his eyes.

The tension could be cut with a knife. Annie had the impression the temperature had dropped a few degrees, and judging by the look on the others' faces, so did they. Everyone stared in petrified silence, waiting to see what would happen next. Then Adastros started making him way up to her, but before she could do anything, Nepto was on his feet, standing between them and staring down at the kid.

"We have the right to have our opinion" he told him firmly. "Leave her alone"

"Oh, so you agree with her?" he asked angrily.

"We all do." Nepto replied coldly. "But the others don't dare to say it because you react like this"

Adastros looked around, scowling, but since no one denied it, he sat down in a foul mood, grabbing one of the rolls Marble started passing over to ease the tension. Nepto sat again next to Annie, and she mouthed him a "thanks" before serving herself.

The night was uneventful. Annie, with a little help from Nepto, had managed to make a pretty decent roof, that they put on top of the food crates after re-arranging them to make a shelter from the wind. They had also woven mattresses out of the leaves, so they didn't have to sleep on the cold floor.

Annie and Eurybia took the first guard. Around midnight, they switched with Satin and Nepto. Adastros asked to be awaken before dawn, so that he could go with Marble and Eurybia search for tributes to catch them off guard.

When Annie woke up the next morning, the trio wasn't back yet, and Satin was still fast asleep. She crawled out of their improvised shelter and saw Nepto, sitting on a rock, staring at the forest. She slipped by his side.

"Hey" she greeted, taking a bit of bread he was offering her.

"Hi" he answered, smiling a bit. "I actually thought we'd never be alone again"

Annie understood what he meant. As a Career pack, they were already glued together. But now that Adastros was furious at Annie, and getting suspicious of her, he wouldn't leave them alone for a minute, and if they dared try to get away from the group, he'd start with conspiracy theories.

"Me neither" she smiled at him. "Thanks for sticking up for me yesterday"

"It was the least I could do" he replied. "I should have answered him, and not let you do it"

"It's okay" she reassured him, adjusting the bandage that she had wrapped around his arm, that had been hurt during the bloodbath. "At least now he thinks I'm not afraid of him. That I'm not an easy target"

"Annie, no one would ever think that"

She smiled a bit, then sighed, resting her forehead against his arm.

"I'd never be able to kill you if it comes down to the two of us…" he told her, as if voicing her thoughts.

"It won't come to that. We both know that." She answered, looking up. "But if I don't win, I want it to be you"

"Same here" he told her, staring at her with a serious expression. "If I die, promise you'll get home alive?"

"Nepto, I can't make th-"

"Promise" he insisted. "You'll do whatever it takes"

She sighed and nodded. "You too then"

"You shouldn't worry about me. You know that I _will_ do whatever it takes" he pushed away a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. "But I do worry about you. Your kindness has no place here"

She looked away, nibbling on her bread. She knew he was right. But what could she do? She knew she didn't have what it takes to be a winner. She would never be able to give a lethal blow to someone… or would she? After all, there was one thing that she wanted more than to not kill anyone; it was to live, of course, but for a reason: all she wanted was to get back to Finnick as soon as possible.


	9. Chapter 9

Totally non-fc related, but have you guys seen the movie? I saw it on wednesday and I LOVE IT! I usually am very picky with movie adaptions of books, but I found this one really accurate, and I adore the cast! What did you guys think?

I hope that for those of you who saw that awesome movie you can still enjoy my low-quality-in-comparison chapter :p

Thank you for reading and reviewing, and for those who just read, an review is always nice guys :)

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><p>The next four days – for Annie at least – were pretty calm. Adastros kept organizing search parties to find lonely tributes; so far he had killed two. He was really annoyed since he hoped to end this quickly and "well", but the mountains seemed to offer great hiding places. On the third night, they saw there was another death – the district 9 girl showed up. If she had been killed by someone else, or if she died of natural causes, they would probably never know.<p>

When Annie woke up to anxious voices on the fifth day, she knew something was up. She quickly crawled out of the shelter and went sit with the rest of the group, who were discussing something that seemed to be cause of disagreement.

"We _have_ to do something. The Games aren't moving quickly enough, the Gamekeepers will start doing stuff" Marble was telling them.

"Well we _are_. We need to further up the mountains!" Adastros replied.

"That's no use. They won't have a source of water. We need to go down the river" he retorted.

"No one will be stupid enough to be at the river" the other boy told him.

"But they will be close, if they need to drink" Marble stood up, placing his sword at his belt. "We don't even know where it ends. Do whatever you want, I'm going to go check it out"

"I'll come with you" said Satin, standing up. Everyone stared at them, and when they realized it would be strange for both from the same district to go, she added. "Come with us, Annie"

The girl, who had just picked up a slice of bread , looked at her a bit surprised, but stood up, taking her weapons.

"I'll come too!" Nepto told them.

"Three is fine" Adastros snapped, looking at them suspiciously.

Annie exchanged a look with her friend and gave him a reassuring nod. She preferred Marble and Satin to Adastros, and she'd much rather go with them then stay near the district 2 boy without Nepto.

So they packed some lunch in case they took time to get back and set off. They walked for about three hours, talking occasionally, but mostly looking around, and keeping an ear out for movements coming from the mountain. Either way, they didn't come across anything that seemed to point out that someone had been there recently. Annie was starting to get tired, and suddenly had a horrible thought: what if they were luring her away to kill her? They'd tell the others something happened to her, and they couldn't help her? That's why Nepto wanted to come…

After that thought passed through her head, she couldn't keep it out. She paid more attention to them than to the mountain, feeling they were a bigger threat. When they stopped for lunch, she tried her best to keep the conversation going, but was mostly listening to what they were telling each other, imagining what possible hidden meaning simple phrases like "Pass the cheese" could have.

When they set off again, Marble and Satin weren't acting any different than they were at their camp, but Annie was afraid to let her guard down for just one second. Her paranoia was starting to get the best of her when something happened that made her forget all about that.

Marble was walking in front, looking around all the time, as if a tribute would randomly pop out from behind a tree or a from the river. Without slowing down, he turned his face to look at them.

"Rivers usually lead to the ocean or something, right? But since this was made, I'm guessing it might lead to some sort of lake, or a good place to-"

But a good place to what, Satin and Annie would never know. Because, right in front of his eyes, as if hit by an invisible lightning, Marble convulsed and fell to the ground with a sickening burning smell. Satin screamed and tried to go to him, and Annie, by instinct, grabbed her and pulled her away, trying not to look at Marble's corpse. The canon fire made the district one girl cease struggling immediately.

"Look away" Annie advised her. Looking around, she saw a rock on the ground and marking it with her knife.

"What are you doing?" Satin asked, clearly baffled. She was clinging to her hair as if it was her sanity.

"Marking the place, so we know were the force field is" the girl replied, straightening up when she was done and grabbing Satin by the arm, leading her away. "Come on, let's go, the hovercraft must be coming"

"Force field?" asked Satin, still troubled.

"Yeah. They have those alot in the Games." Annie explained, trying to seem calm even if she was very pale. Maybe the fact that she was handling the situation would be a plus for getting sponsors? "Gives a high electric discharge. It's awful"

Satin made a weird noise, that sounded like the mixture between a dry sob and a strangled goat, and they started walking back in silence. Annie wasn't sure that she had processed what just happened. She just saw her ally die. Fried, like a fly in those fly-catching machines in the Capitol. What was most terrifying for her is that she didn't feel very shocked, but then again, it was probably because being in the arena – at the risk of being the next victim – made her want to concentrate. She hadn't been that close to Marble and had had her doubts about him… she tried to think positive, that it was one down, but the thought made her shudder, so she concentrated on looking at the woods as they walked in a heavy silence.

When the worst was over, Finnick took a large gulp of his glass of brandy. He had been sitting in the TV room with Mags, watching apprehensively as Annie had set off with the district 1 tributes. They had, just like Nepto, suspected it was a trap. Now that he was sure it wasn't, the mentor could relax.

"Well, that's a good thing" Mags told him, in quiet voice. "That's one less Career for them to deal with"

For someone who isn't familiar with working with the Hunger Games, this statement would probably seem cruel and heartless. But in his five years of mentoring, Finnick knew better than to judge Mags. None of them wanted to watch the kids die; but they knew that they had to die, if they want their protégée to survive.

"She should have let the girl go after him" the man muttered. "That would have been two birds with one stone"

He was extremely annoyed with Annie for holding Satin back. What was the point? She would have to die sooner or later. How did she expect to win the Games if she pitied everyone? Did she really think Satin would have done the same thing? The rule in the arena is to kill or be killed. There are no codes of honor. Annie was already unable to kill someone. If she couldn't watch someone die, then how on earth did she expect to get out of there alive? What miracle did she think he was able to do to save her if she wasn't doing anything to help herself?

"It all happened really fast, Finn. She reacted by instinct" Mags told him, aware of his irritation. "And if you ask me, it was a good thing – how would she explain it if she came back alone?"

"She would have told the truth! They ran into a force field!" he retorted grumpily.

"Think about it, Finnick" the old woman stood up, taking the bottle of brandy away from him and placing it on the shelf. "Adastros already hates her. If she came back by herself, claiming they both ran into a force field, he wouldn't believe her and would have taken the opportunity to kill her"

The man frowned, knowing she was probably right but not wanting to admit it. He looked at his watch and sighed. He still had a couple of hours before he had to go meet Harrolda, the woman the Capitol decided would be his favorite this time. He therefore had nothing to tear him away from the television, and continued watching the Games with apprehension.

The rest of the Careers had taken the news of Marble's death as a shock. They agreed they had to be more prudent, so they didn't die in such a dumb manner. But what probably struck them most – though none would say it – was that he was the first of the Careers to go. As they watched in silence as Marble's face appeared after the anthem, they all secretly wondered who would it be next. Satin had gone to sit by the river, lost in thought, and though the other Careers stayed sitting in a circle, no one spoke for a long time. Everyone just sat in silence, slowly eating their dinner, and starting to suspect each other.

"We could do it now, you know" Adastros said all of a sudden, sounding quite loud in the silence of the evening.

"Do what?" Eurybia inquired.

"Kill her" he nodded to Satin, who was out of earshot. "She's no use anymore. Too upset about Marble's death. As if she didn't know he'd have to die sooner or later. We should do it now she's vulnerable"

"No" Annie refused right away.

"What's the matter with you?" asked the boy, visibly angry. "What do you think this is, summer camp? We'll have to kill each other at some point!"

An uncomfortable silence followed; they all knew that, and yet saying it only made things worst. More real.

"At some point" Annie repeated after a while. "Not now. There are still five others there. There's no point turning against each other now"

"She's got a point, Adastros" Eurybia told him quietly.

"Of course she has!" he retorted, fuming. "She always has! Saint Annie who always knows what is right!"

"Adastros, it's not-"

"Shut up! You are completely useless! How many people have you killed? Huh? How many? None! All you do is sit there, weave your stupid stuff, look pretty and everyone seems to think you're so important!"

"That's not true!" she protested.

They were both on their feet now. Adastros hands were clenched into fists and the girl had hers wrapped around her knife protectively.

"Hey, calm down!" Nepto stood up, placing himself once more between Adastros and Annie, who were glaring daggers at each other.

"Yeah, go on, defend your girlfriend, fishface" the boy spat angrily. "Just remember she'll be dead soon"

Without waiting for an answer, he stormed away. Annie gave an angry sigh and sat back down. "He's impossible!"

"He doesn't see this the way we do" Nepto told her, sitting by her side.

"Where is he going?" wondered Eurybia, watching the boy walk further and further away, until he was only a little dot.

"Oh, who cares?" Annie asked, picking up the roll she hadn't finished. "I hope he doesn't come back"

But unfortunately, he did. And the tension in the pack was awful for the following two days. Adastros didn't want to stay put and would go looking for tributes all day long with Eurybia. Satin, Nepto and Annie started suspecting they were plotting against them. When they were all together, they hardly spoke.

On the night of the second day, Eurybia and Annie were chosen to take the first watch. Annie liked Eurybia; she didn't talk much, but was always nice to her. They sat face to face, and in this moment of privacy, they actually managed to keep up a conversation. They talked about their lives back home, before the Games. Annie was interested to know about district 2, and Eurybia seemed completely fascinated by district 4.

"I've never seen the sea" she admitted. "It must be so beautiful"

"It is" Annie told her. "Whenever I could I'd go swimming… it's just so beautiful. And the smell of the sea… I love it"

"You miss home a lot, don't you?" the huge girl asked quietly.

"All the time" Annie admitted, looking up to the starless sky.

"Me too. Did you leave anyone behind?" Eurybia inquired.

"I'm sorry?"

"A special someone" she specified.

Annie was glad it was dark, because she felt her cheeks burn. "Why do you ask?"

"You sometimes sit and stare at nothing… as if you were thinking of someone" Eurybia explained with a smile.

Annie stayed in silence for a while, but couldn't help smiling a bit. "Yes… I think so. What about you?"

Eurybia scoffed, and her friend turned to look at her, and what she saw made her eyes widen. Nepto, that had slowly crept up from behind Eurybia, whacked her hard on the head with the side of his axe.


	10. Chapter 10

Here's the next chapter. Thank you so much for the reviews and favorites! You guys are lovely :)

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><p>Annie's eyes were wide with shock, but before she could even scream, Nepto had already lunged forwards. For a split-second of terror, the girl thought this was it. He had turned against her. He had only been pretending to be her friend just to make her let her guard down. She was going to die now. And she didn't even have time to go for her knife…<p>

But Nepto did not crush her neck with his bare hand as she was expecting. He simply clasped his hand over her mouth firmly, keeping her from screaming. By reflex, she had brought her hands to his arms, trying to pull them off, but quickly realized it was useless, so looked up at him, trying to calm down. Slowly, he brought his other hand to his lips, motioning her not to make a noise. She slowly nodded and her took his hand off her mouth and grabbed her wrist, guiding her towards the pile of provisions.

Surviving in the Hunger Games meant being quick and smart, not only strong. And there were quite a few situations in which they had had to be very fast, but what Nepto just did beat all the records. In less than a minute he had filled two backpacks with provisions and useful stuff, handed Annie night vision glasses and put his own on. She had a hundred of questions to ask, but didn't dare utter a sound while they were still so close to the other sleeping tributes. They left in silence right away, fearing the consequences of what just happened.

They walked for hours, not daring to make a noise, looking around often in a near paranoid way. The mountain was getting steeper, and though the trees blocked most of the sky, Annie was pretty sure it was getting lighter when they finally decided to stop. They had put enough distance between the other Careers and themselves, and climbing up the mountain had been quite tiresome. Annie pointed to a tree with large roots, and thankfully Nepto understood the message and lead her between them, hiding there snuggled together. The air was colder now they were higher up, and now that they were not in movement anymore it was starting to become uncomfortable. Nepto put an arm around his friend to keep her warm, and motioned her to go to sleep first, which she tried to do.

She woke up a few hours later to Nepto gently shaking her arm. "Sorry, I'm dozing off.."

"It's okay…" she answered in a small voice, snuggling closer against him to stay warm. "Go to sleep, I'll keep my eyes open"

Nepto gently rested his head against hers, and the girl felt his muscles relax as he drifted off to sleep. She stayed alert, eyes darting everywhere, ears picking up the slightest sounds. She was gripping her knife so hard, her knuckles were white, but she didn't let go. They day was up and Adastros was probably furious, looking for them everywhere, but luckily enough no one came around where they were.

It was probably midday when Nepto jerked awake all of a sudden, nearly making Annie's heart stop. She looked at him, worried that he had seen something, but it was probably a dream because he calmed down as soon as he saw where he was.

"Care to explain what happened last night?" she inquired.

At this point of the Games, where life was hanging by a thread, she decided to skip the small talk.

"Just doing what Finnick told us" he replied, getting up and stretching. "Remember? "as soon as they're acting suspicious, leave together", or something like that".

"Yes, well, a warning would have been nice" Annie said, imitating him. After the whole night sitting against that tree, stretching felt so good. A good number of her bones cracked. "I thought for a moment you were going to kill me. I could have screamed"

Her friend turned to look at her, visibly hurt. "I'd never kill you."

Annie sighed, undoing her ponytail to redo it again, since most of her hair had pulled free since last night. "I never know how people will react in here… and it was surprising!"

"There was no way for me to pull you apart to warn you" the boy objected. "Adastros was dying for a reason to kill you, I could see it in his eyes. He would have known we were up to something"

Knowing he was right, the girl didn't reply and bent over to their bags to prepare their breakfast. Now that they were on their own, they would have to eat a lot less than they did back in camp. Eating enough to get them through the day, but staying aware that they had probably a lot more days to go with only those provisions. They ate a bit of dried fruits and cheese in silence before she spoke again.

"Do you think Eurybia's dead?" she asked quietly.

"No. Well, I hope not" he told her, and the girl was about to agree, thinking it was because he cared for the girl, but he added right away: "I was hoping she'd take Adastros out for us"

"Oh, yeah, good point" Annie agreed, reminding herself that she would have to die either way. They all would.

"So what now?" Nepto asked.

Annie looked up at him. Though he did take the initiative of the escape, he didn't seem to have thought of the rest of the plan. She adored him, but he wasn't very bright, and she hoped his impulsiveness wouldn't get them into trouble. She stood up, opening her grey jacket, since the day was quite warm, and picked up her bag.

"We keep moving. Keep alert. If we find a good hiding place, stay there" she told him, looking around to decide which was the best way to walk to. "Look out for the roots and fruits we saw in the survival skills training"

"But I mean, do we look for people?" Nepto inquired, following her, axe on the ready now that they weren't in the security of their camp.

"Not today" she answered after a few seconds of thought. "Let's wait to see if there were any deaths"

She didn't have to say any more for Nepto to understand; he knew she didn't want to go off on a killing spree, and as long as Adastros did all the killing, they wouldn't have to do much. The Gamekeepers would only start doing crazy stuff if the Games became boring. That night would be the verdict.

Before the sun had set, the two tributes from district four had found their shelter for that night. They had gotten to a part of the forest where the trees were so close together, they managed to create a mini hut between two of them, and camouflage it with leaves. As the hour of the anthem approached, Annie climbed up a tree – with quite a lot of difficulty – so she could have a clear view of the sky. Nepto waited anxiously for her to come down once the anthem had finished playing, and gave his friend a hand jumping down from the lowest branch.

Even in the dark, Annie seemed quite pale to him, but he didn't know if it was because there had been deaths or not. She cleared it out for him, saying in a kind of absent tone: "Satin, and the the girl from 6"

"Satin?" Nepto repeated, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. "You think Adastros led them in an expedition against us and she died when they encountered the six girl, and who ever she was with?"

"No" Annie said, crawling into their hut. "I think Adastros killed Satin out of anger. Good night"

She curled up in the comfortable bed of leaves they had made – way more comfortable than the roots against which they slept on the previous night, anyway – and tried to go to sleep. She was incredibly tired and really needed to rest, but her eyes didn't seem to want to close. She was trying to stay focused on winning – she had to, her life literally depended on it – but her thoughts seemed to be overcoming her. She kept thinking of Eurybia, and now Satin… they weren't best friends but she had grown to like them… and now Satin was dead. As much as she tried to remind herself that that was what needed to happen, the cruelty of the situation was gnawing her mind. It was with confused thoughts that she drifted into a restless sleep.

**xXx**

Three days had passed without anything eventful. Annie and Nepto kept walking around; their water stock was going down, but luckily they found a lake they could take water from. They didn't run into Adastros, nor any of the other tributes, and there didn't seem to be any major fights going in because apart from the district 10 girl on the second day, there hadn't been any deaths. This meant there were seven of them, and the Gamekeepers would soon be taking out their gadgets if nothing happened.

Nepto and Annie had talked. They had decided it was time to get down to business. Really hunt the other tributes down. Nepto told Annie that she'd only have to help incapacitate them, he'd do the killing – he knew she wouldn't be able to take a life. She was more grateful than she could say; her nerves were wrecking enough already without having someone's life on her conscience. And they did search for the other tributes – the thing is, the mountain really offered great hiding places. As much as they looked, they didn't seem to find anyone. It was nearly peaceful – as if they were the only ones there.

The afternoon of the fourth day, they were circling for what seemed to be the fifth time the same area. Annie was trying not to lose her patience with this, but ended up stopping, looking around.

"We're walking in circles, aren't we?" Nepto asked, watching her as she turned around herself, trying to decide which way to go.

"Yes."

"You think it's a Gamekeeper trick?" he wondered, starting to look around too, but every way seemed the same.

"No, we're probably tired and stupid" she replied, squinting at one direction. "This is ridiculous, how can we walk in circles in a moun- ARGH!"

Nepto jumped and turned to face her, she had bent down, and he saw her pull an arrow out of her calf with a look of pain and surprise. He looked around right away, axe raised, and Annie threw the arrow away, staring at the spot it probably came from.

"Shit" she murmured. They were cornered.

"We should get out of here" the boy told her.

"We could run straight into them" the girl protested, still looking around. She kept her back to him, trying to see any movement, but she couldn't see anyone. Her heart was racing so fast she didn't know how it hadn't come out of her mouth yet.

"Annie. We're moving. Annie. Annie!"

The girl tore her gaze away from the spot against her will, as if an arrow would come hit her in the head if she did, and glanced at him. The boy was looking at her, beckoning her to come. But that was barely what she saw. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the boy from district seven drop from the tree right behind Nepto. She screamed to warn him, at the same time throwing her knife without thinking. It lodged itself in the boy's skull – there was a sickening sound as the blade made it crack – but it was too late. He had already taken a swing of his sword. Nepto's head rolled of his shoulders, and his body fell forward, splattering Annie with his blood.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey peeps! Again thank you for all your support, reviews, favorite stories, etc they really mean alot to me! Anyway I am giving you this chapter quite early beacuse I will be travelling or a week and will have no time to write then. So enjoy! :D

And Happy easter!

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><p>People react differently to fear. Some scream. Some try to fight whatever is in front of them. Some are paralyzed by it. Thankfully for Annie, her reaction was flight. And as terrorized, shocked and horrified she was after seeing her friend's head roll off of his body, she didn't even stop to think; she had turned her heels and run off as fast as she could. Not even in the bloodbath had she felt this level of adrenaline; she was so close to death that her whole body seemed to have gone on survival mode. She was so desperate to get away from that sight, from the two dead bodies, and the tribute with a bow, that she didn't see or even feel the arrow soar right pass her, missing her by centimeters and hit a tree. She didn't hear the girl from district 7 trying hopelessly to run after her.<p>

Annie was light and agile, and now that she was fueled by her fear she ran incredibly fast. In less than two minutes she had put enough distance between her and her enemy, but she didn't even think about looking over her shoulder or slowing down. For hours she let her legs carry her, indifferent to fatigue or pain, getting up every time she tripped over a root, not bothering to see if she was hurt, no matter how ugly was her fall.

But no adrenaline could keep someone going infinitely. Her life was no longer in immediate danger and she could start to feel every muscle of her body ache from all the running, bruises from falling or hitting branches, thirst from the effort… She had to stop. She held onto a tree with one arm shaking and threw up. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and only when she saw the dark red stains on her skin as she did so that she realized she was covered in Nepto's blood. Fighting the urge to vomit again, Annie started walking again. Her legs could barely carry her anymore but she staggered on, looking helplessly around, until she finally found small lake. Without hesitating, she jumped into it, scrubbing her face and arms fiercely to get rid of all the blood.

The girl scrubbed way more than necessary, but when she finally felt clean, she let her hands drop to her side, standing chest-deep in the lake, taking deep breaths. The cold water was doing a lot of good to her aching muscles, and she felt like just standing there. It took all the effort in the world to move her arms again and refill her water bottle. She put it back in her bag, staring at the water without really seeing it. She was trying, trying not to think of Nepto… but she couldn't. She kept seing the other boy appear behind her ally, and then his head rolling off his shoulders… She should have left the first time he told her. If he hadn't been too busy trying to convince her to move, he'd maybe have seen him coming. He'd maybe-

A noise made Annie come back to her senses. It sounded like a twig breaking, but she didn't stop to verify. She hurried out of the lake and started running again. But this time, she wasn't as frightened as before and she could feel every muscle of her body aching, every bruise burning, and a sharp, nearly unbearable pain on her left ankle. All she wanted to do was stop and lay down, but she knew she couldn't. Not now. She'd rather endure the pain than die.

Thankfully, while wandering around the mountain on their few days on their own, Nepto and her had come across that lake. She knew where to find shelter from there. Looking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being followed, Annie started climbing higher up the mountain. The trees were becoming more distant from each other and sometimes she had to use her hands to help her climb up. After about a few minutes, she found the tree she was looking for. She got closer to it, sliding her finger over the arrow she had carved on it days before. It was Nepto's idea to make the arrow point the opposite direction they would go. So that if anyone else saw it, they'd be thrown off the real track. She bit her lip, trying to keep her head clear, and started walking towards the hiding place.

One…two…three…four… She concentrated on counting her steps, turning left after twenty three. She climbed a bit down the mountain and saw right away the white stone that indicated she was on the right track. She turned right and walked straight ahead, looking around carefully. Finally, she found the tree that she was looking for, with its large roots and bright red apples. The girl circled it, and finally found the entrance. Right under the tree, there was some sort of burrow an animal had probably built and then abandoned. There was a quite large entrance, that Nepto and her had carefully camouflaged, and another one they had left open. It was so small she would have to wiggle her way in, but before entering so she sat against the tree to tend to her wounds.

Now that her muscles had cooled down, and that there was no adrenaline to make her forget about it, the pain was unbearable. She stared at her outstretched left leg for a while, not daring to move. The arrow wound on her right calf seemed like a little scratch now. She didn't need to check it to be sure; her ankle was broken. It probably happened in her crazy flight, she fell over quite a few times. And running again probably made things worse. Pale and shaking, she held her leg for a while, deciding whether or not she should take her boot off but decided against it. If she did, she would never be able to put it back on again. And besides, it was probably better held together this way. She then paid attention to her right leg. She cleaned her wound with water and wrapped it with the only bandage that she had in her bag. Her other injuries were small scratches or bruises, and she ignored them. Carefully, she crawled into the small burrow, where she could fit in a sitting position – if she lowered her head – and curled up in a ball. The pain in her ankle was awful, but it kept her mind off of Nepto, so she concentrated on it. Holding one of her knifes against her for protection, she bit her lip and looked straight ahead of her, reminding her self constantly of her ankle.

**xXx**

As the days passed, things only got worse, and Finnick was having a hard time controlling himself. It was nearly impossible to pretend to be careless, and charming, and funny with Annie in the position she now was.

He thought he was at his worse the day Annie and Nepto were ambushed. He had seen the district seven tributes following them for a while and had stayed glued to the TV, his heart racing, until the attack. He was relieved that Annie made it out alive but hated seeing her suffer that way. The mentors had the privilege to have one tv constantly showing them their tributes, so he watched every step of Annie's reaction. Her fear, her panic, the physical pain, how she broke down in tears when she crawled out of the hole to see Nepto's face appear on the sky… but things only got worse from there.

Three days had passed since Nepto's death, and everyone seemed to make things more difficult for Annie. She came out the first day and stayed outside for a while, even picked up some apples despite her bad limp, ate three times a day, even if very little, and stayed out until the anthem, that announced no deaths had occurred. But she spent the night awake, crying and pulling at her hair, and only fell asleep at sunrise, to wake up terrified a few hours later, fighting of an invisible enemy. She only crawled out of her burrow to eat, and didn't even look up to the sky after the anthem, where she would have seen that the district 7 girl was dead. Most of the time she would just lie there, curled up in a ball, looking at nothing.

She didn't come out at all after the third day. She would only come out of her catatonic state to cry , muttering to an invisible person, or would freak out at every noise she heard, holding her knife ready, waiting to see if she was going to be attacked. At one of her few conscious moments, she took a gulp of her water, then searched for something to eat, and realized she was out of food. She panicked a bit and looked outside, but didn't even leave to pick some apples. She just curled up again, and slowly banged her head against her knees.

Harrolda turned off the TV, which was the only way to keep Finnick from looking at it. She had invited him to her room after dinner, under the pretext of watching the Games. She was rather annoyed by what the boy was doing.

Harrolda was Finnick's main lover of this year. Every time he came around, the ladies who were interested would contact one of the organizers of the Games, and he would go to the highest bid. Of course, he was required to pay visits to other women when his main "lover" was occupied, but he had to be there whenever she asked. This year he was stuck with spoiled Harrolda, who inherited her father's fortune and did whatever she wanted with it. She was a young woman in her late twenties, whose hair was dyed in a horrible neon green color, and whose face could be pretty if it wasn't constantly covered in make-up.

Finnick sighed when she turned off the TV, passing a hand through his hair. Harrolda, put a hand to her hip, looking at him with her lips pursed, but he didn't even look up, and stayed sitting on the edge of the bed, his hand supporting his head.

"Finnick, what _is _the matter with you?" she questioned in a shrill voice.

"It's just…" he sighed, putting up an act. "People think I'm a fool"

"What?" The woman's eyes widened, and she trotted to his side, sitting on the bed by him. "Who would ever thing you were a fool, silly-Finny?"

Only the thought of Annie's well-being was enough to not make him roll his eyes at that pathetic nickname. "The other Mentors. I've been mentoring for five years and how many tributes did I make win? None!"

"Well, five years isn't that much, honey-pie, and there are twelve districts…" she tried to reassure him, stroking his shoulders gently.

"Yeah well… that's not what people say. And I was so confident on this bunch! Now Nepto's dead, and people keep saying Annie won't make it."

"It's clear that she won't, love" she replied in a soothing voice. "But you'll do better next year!"

"She can still win" Finnick retorted, trying not to seem angry. "You saw how she killed that boy, right? What was his name, Jardo?"

"Yes, that was impressive" Harrolda agreed, with a smile of someone who really did enjoy the show.

"See? She can defend herself if she's attacked. She's smart, and she's good. I know I can make her win!"

"Ooh, cutie… there's nothing you can do…"

"Well, there is one thing…" he said hesitantly.

"What is it?"

"She needs food" he told her. "If I could get a sponsor to send her a good stock of food… she'll make it. Maybe with her stomach full, she'll be able to think clearer…"

Harrolda smiled proudly. "Well, I can help you with that! I'll be her sponsor."

As if he hadn't manipulated her into this, Finnick looked up with a look of surprise. "You will?"

"Sure! I have enough money to send her some food…" she smiled cheekily. "Give me a moment to make some phone calls…"

"Why you are one amazing woman..." Finnick told her with a seductive smile, giving her a kiss before letting her run off to the phone, all proud she could make him happy.

Finnick sighed, rubbing his face. He was going to have to sleep with her anyway; might as well take profit from it.

**xXx**

Finnick paced back and forth in the empty meeting room, gnawing his lips so much he could taste blood. Fabella's food gave Annie enough to eat for four more days, but her state was only getting worse. He could see she was losing it a bit more every day, and he could do nothing from where he was. He was grateful for all the excitement the other tributes were giving the capitol: Adastros and Eurybia were hunting down the last tributes, but they had leagued themselves against them. There had been a couple of fights where a lot of people got injured, and still none died. This little war was entertaining the Capitol citizens so much, no one cared about the poor mad girl in her burrow. But Finnick knew it wouldn't last. He knew he had to get her out of there as soon as possible. That's why he asked Seneca for a private meeting.

Seneca Crane, the Head Gamekeeper. The one who called all the shots. If someone could help him, he knew it was him. But just because he could, didn't mean he would…

The door opened suddenly and the Gamekeeper walked in rapidly. "Alright, Finnick what is it? I don't have much time"

"Alright, then I'll go straight to the point" Finnick looked him straight in the eye, with a look of determination that was hardly ever seen in his playful, charming face. "I want Annie to win."

Seneca looked at him for a while before laughing. "You... oh, that's very sweet Finnick. And why are you telling me this?"

"Because you both know that you are the only one who can do something about it." He retorted. "Pull one of your Gamekeeper tricks"

"I really don't see how I'd do that"

"Alright, if your creativity suddenly ran out, I have it all planned out: Break the dam." Before Seneca could laugh again, he went on "You must have a hundred ways to do that. Use an earthquake though, or something very loud, so Annie has the time to come out of her hiding place. And flood the arena. She can swim. Everyone else will drown"

"Impressive. You are right, I could do that. But what makes you think I would?" he asked with a smirk.

Finnick stared at him for a while before sighing. "I'd do anything."

"Really?" the Gamekeeper asked, his tone becoming dangerous all of a sudden. "_Anything?"_

"Anything" the Mentor repeated.

"Well if that is the case… " Seneca came closer to Finnick, with an evil smile on his face as his eyes travelled down the victor's body. "Meet me in my private lounge after dinner. If you are really willing to do anything, then I will break your dam tomorrow morning"

Seneca laughed and left the room, leaving Finnick standing there, staring at the door. His jaw was clenched, his muscled tensed at the idea of what he would have to do to save Annie. He would have never agreed to this, not for anyone else he'd mentored… but this time, it was different. He had promised her he would do everything that was in his power… even if it meant this. He was getting her out of there.


	12. Chapter 12

Hey guys! Sorry for taking longer than usual to post the chapter, but I do hope you like it! Thank you again for all your support :) And please, review!

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><p>Mags woke up every day at seven in the morning. Not because she was somehow required to as a mentor – no, the mentors didn't have any imposed schedules, let aside some interviews when the Games were nearing their end, or their tributes did something exceptional. No, she woke up early by habit. She had been doing so all of her life.<p>

She knew not to expect any company this early in the morning; Finnick slept in late, especially with all the girls he had to visit at night, and even if he was restless because of Annie, his few hours of sleep were taken around this time. That is why the old woman took her time to get dressed, and ate her breakfast slowly. It had been a long time since she had jumped out of bed and turned on a television to see how her tribute was doing. New mentors always did that. But after over fifty years of mentoring, you come to terms with the facts that you can't do much to help. You might as well enjoy your breakfast before facing the probably bad news.

It was therefore a great surprise for her to see Finnick when she walked into the television room. He was standing behind the sofa, his hands resting on its back, a half-full glass of whisky in one hand, Annie's green ribbon wrapped in the other. He was so concentrated on the screen that for a moment Megs thought something was happening, but as she shifted her eyes to the screen, she saw there was no fight. Annie was safe in her hole, curled up and awake, her gaze lost elsewhere. Eurybia was alone watching the camp, and Adastros was out searching for the others, but he was way too high up the mountain, very far from Annie, or the district ten boy.

Mags brought her attention back to Finnick, who was still staring at the screen intensively. He looked tired, and something about his expression made him look hostile and enraged. He didn't even seem to notice she was there.

"Finn, why are you up this early?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

His eyes flickered to her for a moment before gluing back to the television. "I never went to sleep"

"Why not? When did you get back last night?" she enquired, moving closer.

"Late"

"You should get some rest, son…" she told him, placing a hand on his strong arm. "Nothing's going to happen this early in the morning"

"No" he pulled his arm away and didn't move from where he was.

The old victor looked at him for a moment. He had never been this cold with her. She knew something was wrong. "Finnick, what's the matter?"

"Nothing" he answered with an exasperated sigh. "Since when did you become this overbearing?"

"Alright, that's it" she said firmly. "You're tired, upset about something, and drunk over the top. Give me that glass."

The boy hesitated, glanced down at his half-finished glass, then gave her a defiant look and finished his drink in one gulp. He winced and handed her the glass without saying anything. Mags gave him a disapproving look and gave it to the Avox that was waiting obediently in the corner. She then picked up the bottle of whisky on the coffee table, shook her head when she saw how much he had drunk, and handed that too to the Avox boy, telling him to get rid of it.

"Now go get some sleep" she ordered.

"I'm not going anywhere, Mags" he retorted.

"You need to sleep, Finnick" the old woman insisted.

"There is nothing that is going to make me get away from this television" he told her firmly.

She sighed, knowing him too well to know he wasn't kidding. "At least sit down, you look really shaken up"

"I don't want to"

"Finnick-"

"I. Don't. Want. To. Sit. Down!" he had raised his voice and turned to look at her annoyed.

There was no reaction at first, for he had never spoken to his old friend like that, but Mags's shock soon gave in to indignation. She was about to lecture him on his manners, when a rumbling sound coming from the television made them both turn their heads.

A tremendous earthquake shook up the whole arena. The craters of provisions that had been piled up collapsed, some over Eurybia. Adastros and the other boy hit the ground. Annie was literally bouncing on her burrow, hands around her head to shield it. But that was not the worse. That was brutal, but quick. It lasted less than five seconds. But those five seconds were enough to crack the dam holding the water off the arena.

Pieces of the puzzle started getting together in Mags head. But too many were missing. She knew now that Finnick had been waiting for this. But how did he know this? Or maybe… he was behind it? But how would he ever manage to convince the Gamekeepers to do what he wanted?

"Finnick… what have you done?" she asked in a troubled whisper.

**xXx**

Once everything had finally stopped shaking, Annie crawled rapidly out of her hole. Talk about shaking someone awake… She painfully pulled herself up, leaning on her good foot and looking around. The earthquake had stopped, but there was still a strange, unsettling noise…

She tried to climb up the tree for a better view. Every time she had to put a minimal amount of weight on her broken ankle, she couldn't hold back a little yelp. After all these days broken and unattended to, her foot was really, really bad. But she tried to ignore it, climbing higher and higher, having this feeling in her gut that there was something far worse coming for her.

When she judged she was high enough, she put her weight on her arms and right leg, holding tight, and turned her head to see what was going on. Her eyes widened. It seemed to her like the ocean had been brought to the arena. A lot of water was filling it rapidly. With a horrible cold feeling down her spine, she remembered that the arena was a sort of valley… in the shape of a bowl, that could be filled… were they going to drown them all?

There was no time to think. She climbed a little higher, but she knew the water would be there in less than a minute. She pulled her rope out her bag and quickly threw it around the trunk of the tree, tying herself to it. If the current is strong and she isn't tied, she will be crashed around tree after tree, rock after rock before she can even drown. Tying herself was not the best solution, but at least she will stay put, and if the water settles down when she still is conscious, she can pull the knot of easily and swim up to the surface. Between definitely dying and probably dying, she'd choose the later. Not that there was anything else she could do – nor the time to do it.

Annie took a deep breath and closed her eyes as the water reached her level. It pressed her violently against the tree, and she had a hard time not breathing out the little air she was holding. The current was strong and numerous times broken branches would whack her in the back or legs. By the time her lungs were burning for air, and she was starting to wish something would whack her in the head and get it over with, it stopped. All the water seemed to have flown in. Nearly desperate, Annie pulled the knot free and swam as quickly as she could to the surface, with only one thing in mind: oxygen.

She reached the surface, taking deep breaths. The air entering her lungs after her long apnea was painful and yet gratifying. She was breathing again. She was alive.

Once she had caught her breath, Annie looked around. The whole arena was filled with water. The very tip of the mountain – probably the end of the arena – Was still showing, but that was it. No one else could have survived that. The others couldn't swim, could they? This meant it was over. Annie looked up for the hovercraft that was going to pick her up. The water was so cold that she wasn't even feeling pain anymore. She just wanted to get out of there. She wasn't even thinking that she had won, that she had survived, that twenty-three other people had died, that she would see Finnick, then go home to her parents… no. She was only thinking that it was over. She was getting out of there. Away from there. Going anywhere else, but there. And she wanted it to happen fast.

But no hovercraft was coming. Maybe they were sent from really far away?... Whatever the reason, she was getting tired of moving her legs to keep herself afloat. She was considering letting herself float on her back until it showed up when something made her change her mind.

"Well, hello there angel face…" called a cold, sadistic voice.

Annie spun around. A dozen meters from her was Adastros, holding on to a rather large broken branch that was keeping him from drowning. His arms were on top of it, his hands holding a gun. As the girl took all this in, he shot.

Her first instinct was to let herself sink under water. She recognized the gun he was holding. They had pilled it up with the other weapons they managed to take from the Cornucopia. It was a small gun that shot arrows. It functioned a lot like a crossbow actually, but it was easier to carry around. The one Adastros shot had hit her in the shoulder. She pulled it off before even thinking of the pain, and blood slowly started to stain the water around her. She hadn't gone back to the surface, and yet another arrow flew right past her. She had to think fast.

Six arrows had come with the gun. The boy had used two already. She needed to make him use them all so she could get near him.

_And then what?_ She thought.

And that's when she remembered the rope she was still holding. As quickly as she could underwater, she made a lasso-like hoop with it. Another arrow missed her by a few centimeters. Three. She had to hurry up, she was running out of breath.

Holding the rope preciously, she swum deeper down the water, yet in Adastros direction. She could see the shape of the branch on top of her. He shot another arrow that grazed her hip. Four.

She tried to wait for the other two, but she couldn't hold her breath any longer. She was merely human and Adastros must have realized it. He must be waiting for her to come up. Deciding she might as well risk it, she put both her hands inside the hoop, holding it open, and swum up towards the log as fast as she could. She appeared in front of Adastros so suddenly he took a second to react – the second she needed to slide the hoop around his hands that were still holding the gun. He fired, but the arrow went way over Annie's shoulder and landed on the water with a splash. Without losing time, she pulled tight on the long end of the rope, tying Adastros hands together, and went back under, pulling him with her with all her might.

When she saw his body fall in the water, she tried to resurface, but he grabbed her foot with his tied hands. Feeling a horrible, indescribable pain as he held on to her bruised leg, she kicked him on the face with all the force she could muster in the other leg, making him release her. She swam quickly as far away from him as possible, going to the branch he had been holding to and pushing it away. When she felt she was in a safe distance, she stopped and turned to look back.

Adastros hadn't managed to resurface, or if he had, it was for a short amount of time as she had her back turned. She could only see the bubbles he made, and then… nothing. And nothing lasted a really long time. Annie had no idea how long it took for someone to actually die drowning, but it seemed like a year had passed when she finally heard the canon fire.


	13. Chapter 13

It had been hours since Annie had been brought back to the Capitol. She had been in the hospital wing all this time, and the doctors were not letting anybody in. As time went by, it became more and more difficult for Finnick to hide his impatience. He was pacing back and forth in the waiting room, clenching Annie's green ribbon inside of his pocket, and trying to ignore Mags piercing stare.

"It's a huge coincidence that the dam broke" she said finally, staring at him without blinking. "Probably the only thing that would have saved Annie…"

"It is, isn't it? We're lucky" he replied hastily, looking at the door the doctors had disappeared to for the umpteenth time.

"Finnick, what did you do?" the old mentor asked apprehensively.

He finally stopped pacing and looked at her. He knew there was no point denying he had a hand in this. She could see straight through his lies. "I just did what I had to do"

"Finnick…"

But he would say no more. And in a way, Mags wasn't sure she wanted to know. Well, of course she did, it was Finnick and she worried about him. But she was already imagining so many unpleasant, horrible things that he had submitted himself to, that having the confirmation – or finding out something worse – would break her heart. Because it had been done, and there was nothing she could do about it. He was just a boy. Not even twenty. All she wanted to do was protect him, but she was unable. Just like she wasn't able to protect Dixie, Gunnar, or Gaius. All of her surviving tributes. Gunnar was dead now, Dixie taught at the academy for the Careers, and Gaius locked himself in his house full of hatred and self-pity. And now Finnick, the victim of the Capitol, the object of their desire, the source of their amusement was taking it all. More than any teenager should ever have to.

Part of Finnick wanted to tell Mags everything, let it out, be comforted… but he had to remind himself to keep it together. What he did, he was going to keep it to himself. He wouldn't ask for pity or glorification. He did what he had to do to get Annie out. Like he had promised. He tried to pretend it didn't happen, and with Annie there it was easier, but still, at the most random of moments, Seneca's voice would rise in the back of his mind, cruel, mocking, with his cold laugh ringing in his ears.

"_Why thank you Finnick! It's so nice to know you care so much about that girl… you know, in case we want to send you a present…." _

Now above everything, Annie was in danger. But if he hadn't asked the Gamekeeper to make her win, she would have certainly died in the arena… He had to choose the lesser of two evils.

A door opened, dragging the young man out of his thoughts. The same doctor that had stopped him from entering the room earlier was coming towards them.

"How is she? Can we see her?" he asked, before the man had a chance to speak.

The doctor raised a hand, gesturing him to keep calm. "The physical damage has been dealt with. The arrow wounds were pretty easy to treat, she broke two ribs and a finger during the flood and she has quite a number of cuts and bruises, but the ankle was the worst. It was much worse than we thought. Broken bone, muscular and ligament tear… it will take a while to recover, but she will be fine eventually"

"So can we see her?" Finnick insisted.

"She's asleep." The doctor informed. "She's under heavy medication; she's in a lot of pain. And we still don't know how she is reacting emotionally"

"Fine, but can I go in?" the mentor asked once more. "I will just sit there. I promise. I just want to be there when she wakes up"

The doctor seemed to hesitate, and Finnick started making a mental list of arguments to get in, but he ended up nodding. "I guess it will be best for her to wake up to familiar faces. You may go see her"

The man guided them to the room where his patient was, and gently opened the door. Finnick went in slowly, looking at the only bed. There was a girl, asleep, looking so peaceful. He could barely believe it was the same girl who spent days curled up in her hiding place, the girl who saw her friend be beheaded before her very eyes, the girl who had to kill to survive. The girl who won the Hunger Games. Slowly, silently, not wanting to disturb the peace she finally got after days of agony, he pulled a chair close to her bed and sat, looking at her. He could see the lump of her cast under her blanket, but other than that she looked exactly like the Annie that had left district four. She had a few cuts on her arms and face, but that could have been from training. She was clean, her hair was beautiful and tidy, her nails in a perfect shape…

With all the gentleness in the world Finnick took her hand in his. He smiled for the first time in days. She was safe now. All the worry that had been haunting him for nearly two weeks was gone. He managed to keep his promise. He wouldn't have to live with her death on his conscience. His Annie was back.

Or so he thought.

**xXx**

Finnick had literally no idea of how long he had been sitting there. Mags had left the room after a few minutes… or was it hours? No one dared to disturb him and he didn't seem to want to do anything else then to look at Annie. When you think you are going to lose someone, you start to value the little things. To regret those you didn't do. To fear what you might never be able to share with that person. After that, the simple fact of watching her sleep was fascinating, fulfilling.

When she finally opened her eyes, it wasn't in a startled way as he would have expected after all the time she had spent in the arena. It was lazy, slow, confused. Like when you wake up after a long time and don't even know what day it is. As much as Finnick would love to think she was rested and calm, he knew she was under a lot of morphling.

"Annie" he called sweetly, taking her hand again with a smile. "Hey"

She turned her head towards him, staring at him for a while. But there was no reaction. Not one that he was expecting anyway. No joy or surprise upon finally seeing him again, no fear by hearing a voice so close by, not even anger for him not finding a way to get her out sooner. She just stared at him. As she would have stared at a lamp, or a fly. She then took her eyes off him, looking around in confusion.

"You're in the Capitol, Annie" he told her, not discouraged by her lack of response. "In the hospital. Everything is fine"

He could have just kept quiet, it wouldn't have changed a thing. Either she couldn't hear him, or was completely ignoring him. _It's probably the morphling_, Finnick thought. _They must have given her so much that she can't think straight_.

Pulling her hand out of Finnick's, the girl raised her arms, looking at them as if seeing them for the first time, then raised her neck to look at the lump her feet made under the covers. Then, losing interest, she lay back down and stared at the celling. Finnick had no idea what to make of this. He was no shrink, he didn't know what to say to her, or if he should say anything at all. All he knew was that this was terrifying him. So he just sat there and looked at her.

"I want to go home" she stated after a while.

He was so shocked to hear her speak after all that time that he didn't respond at first. But finally hearing her voice brought his hopes up again and he smiled, pulling her chair closer.

"We will go soon, I promise" he told her. "You just have a few interviews to do"

"No" she replied firmly.

"Oh, um… I'll see what I can do about that" he said, taken aback by her tone."Annie, do you recognize me?"

"Yes" she answered after a pause, without looking at him.

"Who am I?,,," he insisted, the whole situation making him nervous.

She turned her head to look at him, her big green eyes blank and emotionless. "Finnick"

The boy didn't know what to reply for a while. She knew who he was, and yet she didn't seem to care.

"How are you feeling?" he asked gently, stroking the back of her hand.

She looked away right away.

"You don't want to answer" he assumed.

All Annie did was slightly shake her head.

"You should" he told her. "It will help"

But she kept her lips firmly shut and didn't even look at him again. He tried starting a conversation a few more times, but she acted as though he wasn't there. Finally, around ten in the night, a nurse had to kick him out. He turned to get one last glance at Annie, but the nurse had already shut the door. It took him a while to move. Fear was running through his veins again. Maybe he had lost her in that arena after all.


	14. Chapter 14

Hey guys! Sorry I took such a long time to post this. Truth is, I'm a bit caught up with my uni work, especially this month. I will try to write a chapter, but I don't promise anything. Classes end the 1st of june and I have exams on the 11th and 19th. I might write a chapter until then, but, I don't know. Thanks for your patience anyways! And for all your support and compliments!

Now a few questions have been asked, so I will answer them:

- No, Annie did not kill someone in the bloodbath. She did stab a boy, but only to incapacitate him and get a way. She didn't kill anyone directly.

- I've been asked when I will end the story. I was thinking of right before Catching Fire. However, if I am still inspired - and you guys still want to read - I could do a sequel for Catching Fire and Mockingjay from Annie's and Finnick's POV.

- Someone pointed out that no one had gotten a twelve before Katniss and Peeta on the 75th Hunger Games. My bad. Only read the books once, so I forget some details. Let's all pretend I said Adastros got an 11.

So this is it. Anyway, you are all lovely with your reviews, and I got so many nice ones lately! Constructive too! Thanks, every comment helps me progress.

I will stop blablering now and let you guys read. Kisses!

* * *

><p>"Try to eat something; you haven't touched your food at all…."<p>

Mags was looking at Finnick over the lunch table. She was genuinely worried about him. He had briefly told her how it had gone with Annie, and she understood very well why he was upset. He didn't even rush down to the hospital wing this morning. She could only guess what he thought of Annie's reaction, but she knew very well it was not what he expected.

"I'm not hungry" he answered quietly, resting his head in his hand and staring at his plate with no interest whatsoever.

"She will come by, Finn" Mags told him in a reassuring tone. "A lot of kids come out of the arena that way"

"Yes, and end up drunk, suicidal, addicted to morphling or something of the kind" the boy retorted.

"But that won't happen to Annie" his friend told him.

Finnick raised his head, looking at her for a while as if deciding exactly what he could answer to that. "How can you possibly know that?"

"Because she has you" the old woman answered.

"That doesn't mean anything" he replied, looking down again. "I'm clearly not who she wants to be with right now"

Yet, as if to contradict him, the dining room door opened and a nurse poked her head in, laying her eyes directly on Finnick. "Sorry to interrupt, but Annie wants to see you. So when you're done…"

She didn't even have to finish her sentence that the boy was on his feet and following her, bewildered. Annie wanted to see him? Yet she'd been so cold the day before… maybe it was the morphling, or shock, or something like that. He felt ashamed of himself for jumping to conclusions. Mags was right, Annie needed him, and he had to do all he could to make her feel better.

"She really wants to see me?" he found himself unable to keep himself from asking.

"Doctor Rews has been trying to talk to her" the woman told him. "She's not very cooperative. After a while she refused to talk to him and said she wanted to see you"

Though he would have preferred, for Annie's sake, that she'd talked properly with the doctor, he couldn't help but feel pleased that she wanted to see him. That meant that, no matter what was going on in her head, she still had room for him in there. So he went the rest of the way in silence, unable to conceal a small smile on the corner of his lips, and as the nurse held the door open for him, he entered the room feeling a lot lighter then when he had left it the previous day.

This time, Annie was sitting up. She was hugging herself and seemed to be staring at something only she could see, for when Finnick walked into her field of vision, her eyes suddenly focused on him as if she had no idea he had been there the second before.

"Hi" he greeted her, pulling up his chair again and sitting by her bed.

She looked at him with an expression he was unable to decipher. "Hi"

Realizing she wasn't planning on saying anything else, Finnick went on. "So, the nurse told me you called for me?"

She simply nodded and continued staring at him, still bracing herself. That simple gesture made the young man quite nervous; she was so tense, as if expecting an attack, whereas she was safe now… Sighing, he moved from the chair to edge of her bed, and slowly took her hands, making her let go of her shoulders. He kept holding her hands in his, and stroked them soothingly with his thumb. "Why did you ask for me?"

"I…. want you here" she answered, turning away as if embarrassed. Did she think it would annoy him to be called down just for that? If so, she was very mistaken. Finnick was nearly ecstatic upon hearing that, way more than if she wanted something precise from him.

"Then I'll stay here" he assured her. "As much as I'm allowed"

"When are we leaving?" she asked weakly, not looking up.

"In less than a week" Finnick informed her, letting go of one of her hands to put her hair behind her ear. "But you have to do your interview first"

"I said no!" she burst out all of a sudden, looking up at him angrily then looking down again. "I don't want to!"

"You have to Annie, they-"

But she pulled her hands out of his and clasped them over her ears, closing her eyes and lowering her head, as if to shut him out completely. When Finnick got over his surprise, he tried to gently pull her hands away. It took him a while until he finally persuaded her to listen to him.

"It's really important that you listen to this, Annie" he told her, and frowned a bit when she didn't look at him. "Annie"

Reluctantly, she raised her eyes towards him.

"You can't refuse to do something the Capitol asks" he explained calmly. "If you do, they will hurt, not you, but someone you love. So if you don't care about yourself, think about your parents" "I really don't want to do an interview" she whispered, seeming suddenly so hopeless and fragile, now that she was facing a problem she couldn't just ignore.

"I know" Finnick murmured, taking her hand again. "I know. But think of it this way: one interview, and you'll be back home. Do you think you can do that?"

She passed her free hand over her face and didn't answer.

"Annie? Can you do that?"

"I don't know…" she was holding on to the tips of her long dark hair now. "What makes you say that?"

"Say what?"

"That they'll hurt my family?" she replied, so low that he barely heard her.

"Because that's what they did to me when I refused to obey them" he told her bitterly.

Hearing this, she looked back up at him, her green eyes wide, and for a split second, he recognized the Annie from back home, the Annie who had such a big heart, who was kind and caring.

"But I thought-"

"Fishing accident." He interrupted. "That's what they made it look like. But they made it very clear to me that I was being punished"

"Oh" she stared once more at the empty space in front of her, as if she was alone somewhere else. She seemed to come to some realization though, because her eyes filled suddenly with tears. Without hesitating, Finnick moved closer and pulled her gently against him, holding her head against his shoulder. He stroked her hair gently, assuming that everything that happened to her had finally hit her, and was a bit glad that she was finally crying it out. But he wasn't exactly right.

"We'll never be free, will we?" she mumbled against his shirt. "Being Victor only means we survived, not that we won, doesn't it?"

The boy closed his eyes. She had realized it fast. Way too fast. When he had won, his way of coping with it was acting proud of his title and of his survival. Pretending everything was great. That he was some kind of superhuman. But Annie did not fool herself. Which was probably the reason why she was reacting so badly. She didn't develop any kind of denial. She was way too insightful. She knew exactly what was going on.

"It's not that bad…" Finnick found himself lying, while he gently stroked her long dark hair. "You get used to it."

"I don't know if I _can_ do the interview" she said all of a sudden, pulling away and looking into Finnicks eyes. "I can't, actually. I can't"

"I know it'll be hard-"

"I don't want to watch the recap, I don't want to talk about it!" she was becoming very agitated, and Finnick tried to hug her again, but she recoiled. "I hate this!"

"Maybe, if you start talking about it now, it will help?" Finnick suggested, not sure what to do … he wanted to comfort her but her reactions were totally unpredictable.

"It won't" she told him, bending her good leg so that she could hug it, placing her head against it.

"Believe me, it will"

"How?" she asked angrily. "It won't undo what happened! It won't bring Nepto back! It won't bring none of them back! It won't make me any less of a murderer!"

She had raised her head, and was glaring at him, tears flowing from her eyes. Before Finnick could even react, two nurses had entered the room, alerted by her screams. One of them was holding a needle in her hand, the other was making her way to Finnick.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave…" she told him.

"NO!" Annie had lunged forward, grabbing the boy tightly to stop him from moving, With her good leg, she was kicking in the other nurse's direction, trying to keep her and her needle away, screaming at her.

Finnick would have found the situation comical if he wasn't aware of how serious this was. But he knew this wasn't a joke, and was quite shocked to see Annie acting this way. He held a hand out to the nurse, trying to motion her to stay away.

"It's alright, no need for that"

"Doctor's orders" she answered curtly, trying to grab Annie's leg with one hand as to stop it. "If she panics, we have to sedate her"

"NO! STAY AWAY, I DON'T NEED THAT!" she went on screaming.

"Now calm down, it's for the best" the nurse ordered her impatiently.

"It's fine, leave her alone" said a fifth voice.

Finnick and the nurses turned to look. Annie, once she saw the nurse _was_ leaving her alone, stopped kicking and edged closer to her friend, clinging onto him and hiding her face against her neck. The same doctor that had let Finnick in the day before had entered the room.

"Doctor Rews, you said-" a nurse began.

"I know" he interrupted, raising a hand to ask for silence. "But she is not having a nightmare or a delirium. She was exteriorizing her feelings. You may go"

The two nurses left in silence, and the doctor turned to look at Finnick. For a moment he thought the doctor was going to lecture him, or require him to leave, but instead he gave him a small smile.

"I'm really sorry for the disturbance. I'll tell them to leave you alone from now on" he told Finnick, then turned to look at Annie, and went on in a softer voice. "It's alright, you can let it out"

She didn't answer, nor even look up at him, but the doctor went on: "If you don't want to talk to me just yet, it's alright. But try and talk to Finnick then"

He left the room, and Finnick felt an immense gratitude towards him. For a Capitol citizen, he was understanding and kind. The boy smiled and turned his attention back to Annie, kissing her head. The recap was only two days away. He head to help her as much as he could during that time.


End file.
